YuGiOH!: The Next Movie: Heart and Soul
by Phantom 1
Summary: When a psychopathic millionaire with delusions of grandeur kidnaps Tea in an attempt to prove all Duelists are evil, Yugi and his friends must unite to rescue her. Which is more vital in a duel: technology or the human spirit?
1. Author's Intro & Story Intro

Greetings to all Yu-Gi-Oh! fans!

This story has been laying on the back burner way back since the Duelist Kingdom days (yeah, that long). And I thought it's finally time to get it out in the open. This story has really evolved. At first, it was going to be a flashback about the first time Tea saw Yugi use his Millennium Puzzle. Then I decided against that in that there was a lot I wanted to include that just didn't fit into the time period it took place in. I was originally going to call the sacrifice rule/8000 life point concept "Neo Tournament Rules" and have Kaiba explain them to Yugi. Obviously, that idea went under when Battle City started. After that, the desire to produce this action-filled romantic story gradually dropped until I was practically kicking myself for thinking of such a thing. So what re-inspired me to go to work on this again? Well, in all honesty, it was the Tea vs. Big-2 duel. To be blunt, I already know how the real series turns out romantic-wise but that won't stop me. I was going to go through with it.

Then I saw Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie and everything changed. I really liked some of the ideas used in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie so I tried to find a way to incorporate them into my story.

Originally, this was going to be a fanfic. Then after I saw Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie, I decided to make it into a "sequel" to Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie. Then I decided to make it a fanfic again because I wasn't sure how the ending would turn out visually. I decided to produce it as a fanfic and then, pending CONSTRUCTIVE (in a fine tradition of mine, all flames will be ignored) criticism, I'll try it out in movie script format.

A few more notes:

The story of Yugi figuring out the "secret" of the Millennium Puzzle is actually pulled from the Manga, when Yami-Yugi first met Shadi and had to solve a mystery to save Anzu's (Tea) life.

Bakura and Yami-Bakura freely switch between one another in the climatic final battle. Obviously, this is impossible in the canon show. I wanted to explain that Yami-Bakura was sealed inside the ring with regular Bakura giving the ability to switch on command thanks to Shadi and the Millennium Scales. Then I found out what the Millennium Scales really did and that was sent to the graveyard (if you know what I mean). So I just decided not to explain it.

I'm well aware that Yugi and Tea are childhood friends. I tried to incorporate that but it wasn't easy.

The name of the villain in this story, "Edric Masters" is a tentative name. If anyone has any better ideas for names of this character, feel free to tell me.

The Duel that Yugi has at the beginning is similar to the battles Ash has at the beginning of the first, third, and fourth Pokemon movies. Just imagine that a jazzed-up version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! theme song is playing (or "Guardian of the Cards" by Tempest)

Special thanks go to the people at the yugiohrealms web site for providing so much insight into the movie, the series, and the actual origins of the spirit that inhabits the Millennium Puzzle. Obviously, some things I made up but that's what makes fanfiction so great.

Well, you guys must be tired of my gabbing so all I'm going to say is read on and enjoy. Reviews/Recommendations are always welcome.

-Phantom 1

The 1 and Only

Abstract: When a psychopathic millionaire with delusions of grandeur kidnaps Tea in an attempt to prove his superiority over all Duelists, Yugi and his friends must unite like never before to save her. Which is superior in a duel: technology or the human spirit?

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Next Movie

Subtitle: Heart and Soul

_Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian sorcerers held great and terrible power. This power was the ability to summon monsters from a dimension of shadows and use them against each other with the victor gaining power in the process. The most accurate translation of this procedure was "duel." Dueling was achieved only through the Chosen Ones, those decided by Ra to wield the mysterious Millennium Items._

_The Millennium Ring, a compass which would decide the fate of souls._

_The Millennium Eye, which could see the truth in all humans._

_The Millennium Key, the gateway to a person's soul._

_The Millennium Scale, the very judge of good and evil._

_The Millennium Necklace, a window into the future._

_And the Millennium Rod which could control a person's mind._

_Then, a great and terrible evil descended upon the land. This evil contained massive power; and unleashing such incredible shadow magic threatened to weaken the very fabric of reality and destroy all that exists._

_The Pharaoh at the time could no longer stand by and watch as his people suffered underneath such a terrible threat. Using the powers granted to him by Ra through his almighty Millennium Pyramid, he united the Chosen Ones and together, they waged a Shadow War that shakes the desert long after the fact. But it was worth it, for in the end, the Chosen Ones were victorious!_

_But something weighed heavily on the Pharaoh's mind. Forces of evil could gain access to the Millennium Items even after his death. For the Pharaoh was not only one of the Chosen Ones, but the guardian chosen to protect the Millennium Items from wrongful use. And if the items were ever brought into the open again without him to protect it, the Earth would fall into a state of eternal darkness and torment just as it had done in the past. So, despite protests from his court, even his beloved one, the Pharaoh prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice. Already drained mystically and mentally from battling the great evil, he injected what was left of his own power, in fact, his very life force, into the Millennium Pyramid so that he would always be able to guard the world from the dangers of the Shadow Games. No sooner had he done that, but the Millennium Pyramid fell from his lifeless hands and shattered._

_The Pharaoh's beloved picked up the fallen pieces and ordered a great tomb to be constructed to protect it and all the Millennium Items until Ra saw fit to resurrect the Pharaoh in all his glory. And she changed the name of this Conundrum Item. Now, it was known as the Millennium Puzzle._

_But, just as the wind blows sand from one dune to another, so has the passage of time easily lifted the identity from the spirit that inhabited the Millennium Puzzle, until..._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_(Centuries later, 40 years before the present, somewhere in the desert north of Cairo, Egypt)._

_An archaeologist on a dig discovered the shattered Millennium Puzzle. He took it home and forgot about it until his puzzle-loving grandson discovered it. The man dared the boy to solve it._

_The boy did and that was when his life changed forever._


	2. A Duelist's Life

It was the last day of school and students everywhere were anxiously counting down the hours and minutes until the final bell sounded. But as soon as it did, there was a mass exodus from all educational institutions. And Domino High was no exception.

One boy however, lingered inside the school building. Not because he was going to miss school, but simply because he was waiting for someone, or rather some people.

"Hey Yug," a voice called. Yugi Moto turned and waved to his friend Joey Wheeler.

"Hi, Joey," Yugi greeted.

"Oh man, can you believe it? Summer vacation at last! WAHOO!" Joey jumped into the air.

"Take it easy, Joey, you might bump your head if you jump up any higher."

"He wouldn't even feel it," said a new voice. Tristan Taylor walked up to them. "He's too thick-skulled to receive pain there."

"Oh, you're just a riot, Tristan," Joey said sarcastically. "Did it take you all day to come up with that or did you just think of it right off the bat?"

"You'd think those two would've grown up after all they've been through," a new person said. It was Ryo Bakura. Although he was dressed in the same school uniform as Yugi, Joey, and Tristan, his Millennium Ring hung around his neck. Some people stared at Bakura oddly and often asked him what he was doing wearing jewelry. Bakura simply shrugged and said it was a good luck charm given to him by his father. Yugi also wore his Millennium Item around his neck but people rarely paid attention to Yugi (when he wasn't dueling that is).

"That's true," Yugi agreed. "But I wouldn't have them any other way." Joey and Tristan continued the argument as Yugi looked around, searching for someone. "Um... guys, where's Tea?"

"She got the last clean-up duty of the year," Tristan said. He gave Yugi a sly smile. "Why so interested, Yugi? You got something important to tell her?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Yugi's face grew beat red. "Well... er... uh... no, I mean it's not important, what I mean is uh..."

Joey shook his head. "Poor Yug, he may be a dueling dynamo, but when it comes to women, he's all thumbs."

"Cheer up, Yugi; women are a mystery not even the greatest sleuths can figure out."

"Oh really, Tristan, then what makes you such an expert?" Tea's voice came from behind Joey and Tristan. The two froze up. "Hope you boys weren't waiting too long for me."

"Not at all," Yugi said. "Now that we're all here, let's blow this burger stand." As the group left, they were chatting about all the things they wanted to do. Yugi wanted to eat nothing but cheeseburgers. Tea pointed out that he could get sick and Yugi argued that he did it once before and Tea came back that back then, he got sick and had to stay home from school for a week. Joey said that he would overhaul his deck so that it could beat Kaiba's deck but Tristan pointed out that his previous two constructions weren't able to beat Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon card. Needless to say, Yugi and Joey moped all the way down the street.

"Hey!" A kid called. "Are you Yugi Moto?"

Yugi still wasn't used to his new-found popularity due to his victories in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. So he nervously replied, "Um... yeah. Who are you?"

"My name's Calvin, I'm from America."

"Okay, is there something that you want?"

"Yeah, to challenge you to a duel!" The kid announced brandishing his Kaiba-Corp. Duel Disk.

"Look, kid, you obviously don't know who you're dealing with."

"I want to prove myself that I can take on the number one duelist in the land!"

"All right," Yugi said cheerfully. "I accept your challenge. But I should warn you, I won't go easy on you."

"Don't whoop him too bad, Yug," Joey advised. "We don't want the kid to lose his love of the game."

"Sure," Yugi replied. His Millennium Puzzle began to glow as Yugi fused with the spirit that inhabited the Millennium Puzzle. "Okay, I hope you're ready to duel," Yami-Yugi said. He reached into his backpack and took out his own Duel Disk. He snapped his deck into the slot as the tray came together.

"Let's duel!" They both cried. Their life point counters were set at 4000 and the duel started.

(Y: 4000)  
(C: 4000)

"I'll make the first move," Calvin volunteered. "I summon Takriminos in attack mode!" A green lizard-like creature arose from the holographic card that appeared between them.

Name: Takriminos  
Level: 4  
Type: Sea-Serpent  
Attribute: Water  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1200

"Your move, Yugi," the kid said.

Yami-Yugi nodded and drew a sixth card. "I summon Feral Imp in attack mode and I equip it with the Horn of the Unicorn!"

Name: Feral Imp  
Level: 4  
Type: Fiend  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1300  
DEF: 1400  
Analysis: Weak unless played with other cards.  
Recommended strategy: Allow combo to take place before countering with Really Eternal Rest or related spell card.

(FI: 1300---2000, 1400---2100)

"Magic Lightning Attack!" Yami-Yugi cried. Lightning danced across the horn of the transformed imp. Takriminos tried its best to avoid it but it was destroyed.

(Y: 4000)  
(C: 3500)

"Not bad, Yugi," the kid said. "A good opening move, but don't think I'll allow you to do that again. I summon Great Angus!" A pink-colored burly monster with large claws appeared.

Name: Great Angus  
Level: 4  
Type: Beast  
Attribute: Fire  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 600

"And I equip it with Beast Fangs," the kid added sliding a spell card into a slot below the slot where the Great Angus was.

(G.A.: 1800---2100, 600---900)

"I also activate a field magic card called Molten Destruction!"

(G.A.: 2100---2600, 900---500)

The area around them transformed into a volcano area.

"Angus, charbroil that imp!"

"Imp, fly away!" Yami-Yugi commanded. The Feral Imp flew into the air but Great Angus let out a huge burst of fire which sent it crashing to the ground.

(Y: 3400)  
(C: 3500)

"That was some combo," Yami-Yugi said. "For now, I play Mystical Elf in defense mode."

Name: Mystical Elf  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 800  
DEF: 2000  
Analysis: No potential threat  
Recommended strategy: Use Stop Defense card

"I also lay one card face-down and end my turn."

"You didn't attack me!" Calvin realized. "Big mistake, I summon Don Zaloog in attack mode!" A white-haired man wearing combat fatigues and an eye-patch appeared holding two swords.

Name: Don Zaloog  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1500

"Being the expert duelist you are, I'm sure you know about Don Zaloog's special effect."

"What special effect is that?" Tea asked Joey.

"It can send one card from Yugi's hand directly to the graveyard."

"Yes, but it can also send two cards from Yugi's deck to the graveyard," Bakura added.

"So what effect will he use?" Tristan asked.

"That's up to Calvin but it can only work if he does damage to Yugi's life points."

"Hah! My bud won't let that happen."

"Now to get rid of your Mystical Elf," the kid said. "Angus, attack the Mystical Elf immediately so Don Zaloog can do his dirty work!"

"I'm afraid you won't be using Don Zaloog's effects today. Reveal trap card: Spellbinding Circle!" A circle with archaic symbols enclosed Angus and made him howl in pain. "Now your monster can't attack me which means my Mystical Elf is safe."

"I think I'm beginning to see why you're so good," Calvin muttered. "Fine, I end my turn!"

"Then I'll begin mine. I sacrifice Mystical Elf so I can summon Dark Magician Girl!" A woman wearing blue and pink with a headdress that was smaller than her male counterpart's appeared. Her staff was also smaller. She struck a pose and got ready to hear her master's commands.

Name: Dark Magician Girl  
Level: 6  
Type: Spellcaster/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 2000  
DEF: 1700  
Analysis: Key to summoning Dark Magician  
Recommend strategy: Destroy with spell or trap card before her power can be used to summon Dark Magician.

"Dark Magician Girl, attack Don Zaloog now!" The Dark Magician Girl fired a blast of pink energy from her staff. The warrior was destroyed.

(Y: 3400)  
(C: 2900)

Joey whooped. "When Yugi starts bringing out his magicians, that's means the kid gloves are off."

"I play Remove Trap to stop your Spellbinding Circle. Next, I summon Soul Tiger in defense mode," the kid said. The Soul Tiger looked like a ghostly version of the animal.

Name: Soul Tiger  
Level: 4  
Type: Beast  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 0  
DEF: 2100

"Angus, attack Dark Magician Girl!"

"I discard Kuriboh from my hand!" Yami-Yugi shouted. He placed a card inside his duel disk's discard slot. "Thanks to Kuriboh, I receive no damage to my life points and my Dark Magician Girl is safe." The Dark Magician Girl seemed to breathe a sigh of relief from that. "It's my move," he said and Calvin knew he was in trouble. Yami-Yugi drew a card. "I activate the Sage's Stone."

"Not that!" Calvin cried.

"Yes, that," Yami-Yugi confirmed, "Now I can special summon Dark Magician from my hand!" His trademark monster appeared standing back-to-back with his female equivalent. The two looked like they were ready for trouble... to cause it.

Name: Dark Magician  
Level: 7  
Type: Spellcaster  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 2500  
DEF: 2100  
Analysis: Strongest normal monster in deck, prevent it from being summoned at any cost.  
Recommended strategy: limit monster card zone so two monsters can not be brought onto the field. Use Gravity Bind.

"I equip Dark Magician Girl with the Book of Secret Arts which raises her attack power by 300 points!" A book appeared in front of Dark Magician and as she read it, her body was covered in a magic energy.

(DMG: 2000---2300)

"And for my last spell card, De-Spell which I'll use to remove Molten Destruction."

(GA: 2600---2100)

"Dark Magician Girl, destroy the Soul Tiger!" The Dark Magician Girl lunged at the Soul Tiger and passed right through it. Dark Magician Girl looked around and finally spotted it in mid-leap. She aimed her staff at it and fired a pink burst of energy which destroyed it. "Dark Magician, your target is Great Angus! Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician waved his staff and Great Angus' colors became inverted like a picture negative before its body burst apart.

(Y: 3400)  
(C: 2500)

"I'm not done yet," Calvin said. "I've got super-power cards that not even your Dark Magician can stand up to."

"So you want to go out in a blaze of glory," Yami-Yugi guessed. "Fine by me."

Calvin drew a card. "I play Card of Sanctity. Draw your six cards!" Yugi's hand was depleted from summoning Dark Magician and powering up Dark Magician Girl so he welcomed the card.

"Big mistake," Tea commented. "Calvin just gave Yugi an advantage."

"I'm sure there's a reason he did that," Tristan assured.

"I activate Polymerization," Calvin announced. "Fusing Warrior Dai Grepher with Spirit Ryu to form Ryu Senshi!" Two orbs of light representing the fusion material monsters came together to form a purple-armored warrior.

Name: Ryu Senshi  
Level: 6  
Type: Warrior/Fusion/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 2000  
DEF: 1200

"And I equip it with Fusion Sword raising its attack points by 800!"

(RS: 2000---2800)

"Ryu Senshi, destroy Dark Magician Girl!" Both Yami-Yugi and the Dark Magician watched in horror as the warrior clashed his sword with Dark Magician Girl's staff. For a while, it looked the Dark Magician Girl could hold her own but alas, Ryu Senshi ran her through his blade. The Dark Magician Girl's eyes glazed over as she fell and disappeared like an RPG enemy.

(Y: 2900)  
(C: 2500)

Yami-Yugi hated to see one of his monsters lose, especially one of his favorites like Dark Magician Girl. The Dark Magician looked horrified as well. But he was just a hologram, wasn't he?

"I see," he said. "You are a great duelist, I can see you will go far," Yami-Yugi complimented.

"Thank you, Yugi. Coming from you, that's a real compliment."

"But now play time is over. I'll also activate Polymerization and I'll fuse Dark Magician with the Buster Blader card in my hand!"

"What's the point in fusing two powerful monsters?" Calvin asked.

"I'll show you," Yami-Yugi said as the Dark Magician and Buster Blader turned into orbs of light and mingled together. "While they are strong alone, together, they are unbeatable, for they combine to form... Dark Paladin, the Ultimate Magical Swordsman!"

Name: Dark Paladin, the Ultimate Magical Swordsman  
Level: 8  
Type: Spellcaster/Fusion/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 2900  
DEF: 2400  
Analysis: Dangerous if opponent's deck contained Dragon cards.  
Recommended strategy: neutralize Polymerization then take on cards individually.

"True, it's stronger than my Ryu Senshi," Calvin admitted. "But I'll only lose 100 life points."

"Not if I activate its special effect which allows Dark Paladin to gain 500 extra attack points for every Dragon monster played and that includes the Spirit Ryu that you used as part of your fusion."

(DPUMS: 2900---3400)

"Dark Paladin, attack with mystic blade! Destroy Ryu Senshi!" The two fusion monsters clashed blades and Dark Paladin won by literally slicing off Ryu Senshi's head.

(Y: 2900)  
(C: 1900)

"But I'm not done yet. I activate De-Fusion which turns my fusion monster back into its two original monsters." Dark Magician and Buster Blader appeared on the field. "Now I'll have my Dark Magician finish you off. Consider this payment for Dark Magician Girl. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" The Dark Magician powered up his staff and swung it at Calvin. There was a huge flash of light that made everyone cover their eyes.

(Y: 2900)  
(C: 0)

The duel disks deactivated. Calvin held his head low. "I should've known better than to challenge Yugi Moto. What was I thinking?"

"Don't beat yourself up," Yugi said returning to normal. "You had some great combos. That Ryu Senshi is really strong. If you equipped it with Megamorph or Axe of Despair, you might've succeeded."

"Thanks, Yugi. You don't know how much that means to me. I liked that strategy you used to bring out your Dark Magician, with Dark Magician Girl and Sage's Stone and all that."

Yugi blushed. "It's nothing spectacular, really. Most of the time, I use it when I'm in a hurry and want to bring out my best monster."

"Well it's still pretty good. In fact, I was wondering... would you like to trade with me. I would trade you your Dark Magician Girl for my Ryu Senshi. I'll even throw in the monsters use to fuse it."

"It does sound tempting but..." Yugi stared at the Dark Magician Girl which was at the bottom of his deck. "I don't think the Dark Magician would like it at all if I traded her away." Calvin looked at him strangely. Yugi looked up at him. "I know it might sound strange, but I consider each of my cards like my best friends. And I know I wouldn't like it if my best friends left me."

Calvin shrugged. "Well, I still don't understand, but I'll respect your wishes, Yugi. Just promise me one thing..." he gave Yugi a thumb up. "You'd let me have a rematch with you?"

Yugi returned the gesture. "You bet."

"That's Yugi for ya'," Joey said. "Not a bad bone in his body."

Tea nodded. She couldn't believe how far Yugi had come in such a short time. He went from a kid who was the constant target of bullying and ridicule to a strong capable duelist. Yet he still retained the kindness and sincerity that she knew he always had. I'm proud of you, Yugi, I'm proud that I'm your friend, she thought. She knew that Yugi had a little crush on her and in all honesty, she thought he was a little cute, but she just didn't think of him in the same way he thought of her. Still... why was a piece of her heart sad at that fact? Did... did she want...

"Tea?" Tea hadn't realized that Yugi was calling her and was staring at her curiously. "Is something wrong?"

Tea's face grew a little crimson but she smiled. "I was just thinking about how far you've come since Duelist Kingdom."

Yugi blushed at that comment.

_"She's right, Yugi,"_ Yugi heard Yami speak to him in his mind. "_You've definitely gotten stronger. "_

"Oh, I don't know about that," Yugi told the two of them (though Tea didn't know that Yami was agreeing with her). "I think the only reason I've got so far was because of Yami and the Millennium Puzzle."

"Yami is just as much a part of you as your arm is. No matter who is in control, it's still you."

"Hey, from my perspective, Yugi looks like Yugi," Tristan said.

"True, but things are not always what they seem," Bakura pointed out holding his Millennium Ring.

"I think Tea's right," Joey said. "You are definitely stronger than you used to be."

"Thanks, guys; you don't know how good it feels to hear you say that."

"All right, I say we all go over to the Game Shop to celebrate Yugi's victory."

"You're just eager to take a look at the new cards," Tristan accused.

"Hey, do I look like a duel-crazy blowhard?"

"Is that a trick question?"

Yugi, Bakura, and Tea all laughed at Joey and Tristan's argument. As they left, they were unaware that someone had been watching them ever since Yugi first started dueling Calvin. He smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

"I see you, Yugi Moto, do you see me?"


	3. Matters of the Heart

That evening, Yugi settled in front of the television. He yawned as his grandpa came in.

"Yugi, if you're bored, you can help me in the store," Solomon hinted.

"Oh, sure, Grandpa," Yugi agreed getting up and following the old man into the store that adjoined their house. The television channel landed in the middle of a news program.

"_And in business news, the mega monopoly Kaiba Corporation is suffering from another series of thefts at their Domino City warehouses. Just like the previous break-ins, software components, circuitry, and this time, even a laser control system was stolen. President and CEO Seto Kaiba had this to say..." _

The image cut to that of the multimillionaire and Yugi's #1 rival in his trademark blue coat and scowl.

"_I don't know who is behind these strings of thefts of Kaiba Corp. technology, but rest assured I will not rest until they are stopped permanently. I take anything that happens to my company very seriously and very personally..."_

_"In a related story, Kaiba Corp., which has only since recovered from a hostile take over by Industrial Illusions as well as an overthrow by its board of directors, is in danger again of being bought out. This time, the buyer is Gamma Technologies, headed by teenage cyber genius Edric Masters. As of now, the takeover is only 35 complete but Kaiba Corp. stock is dropping every day due to the thefts. Stock experts suspect that exchange of company control will take place by the end of the week. A spokesperson for Edric Masters said that buying out Kaiba Corp. is just the way the business world works."_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

In the store, Yugi restocked the shelves for the next day as Solomon emptied the cash register.

"Oh, Yugi, before I forget, you received some more mail today. It's over there behind the shelf." Yugi looked in that direction and saw a large drawstring bag that was literally overflowing with mail. He let out a moan of anguish. Ever since he won Battle City, it seemed like his popularity was skyrocketing uncontrollably. Every day he received praise mail, mail from amateur duelists asking for advice, due challenges, request for interviews. One time, someone even sent him a marriage proposal. For some reason, that got Tea really upset, so much so that she crumpled up the letter and threw it in the trash and said something along the lines of "he's too young for her." It wasn't like he was going to say yes anyway.

"What's wrong, Yugi?" Solomon asked as he placed the money into a safe underneath the cash register. "When I was your age, being popular was considered a great honor."

"I don't know, Grandpa. Before, I always dreamed about becoming popular. Now that I am..."

"You're wishing it was just you and Tea like the old days, huh?" Yugi became really embarrassed. "Yugi, you don't have to be embarrassed. You're growing up so of course you're going to become interested in girls. It was the same with me when I was your age. And Tea and you have been friends since the beginning."

"I don't know, Grandpa," Yugi said looking at a picture that was on the back shelf. It was of everyone just after they returned from Battle City. Yugi was proudly displaying the Egyptian God Cards: Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. Joey was locked in a head lock by Mai. Tristan was giving Yugi and Bakura bunny ears. Tea was probably the only one acting semi-normal. She had her arm around Yugi's shoulder, facing him towards the camera. "Tea and I have been friends for a long time, but she treats me like her little brother than anything else."

"Yugi, unfortunately, I'm a lot better at dealing advice with Duel Monsters than women, but there was a proverb that I once heard while in Egypt. It is said that the heart and soul of one is often reflected in the other. I'm not perfectly sure, but I think it means that if Tea really cares about you the same way you care about her, she'll know it in her heart and the same goes vice-versa. You listen to your heart in dueling; you can listen to your heart in life."

"Grandpa, I'm still not sure what that proverb of yours means, but I will take what you said to heart."

"You can take it to bed. It's almost ten o'clock. Even top duelists need their shut-eye and so do old men."

"Awww, Grandpa!" Yugi whined.

"Now don't argue with me, young man. It's up to bed with you, now."

"Okay."

Yami heard Solomon's lecture and for some reason, it tugged at something in the deep recesses of his mind. His mind was still jumbled up in trying to decipher what happened to him in the past which caused him to be inserted into the Millennium Puzzle, but he had a feeling he knew what that saying meant. Was the saying Egyptian in origin? Yami filed that under a list of questions that needed to be answered (though it was way down on the list) and was retracted into the Millennium Puzzle.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tea found it hard to sleep that night, part of it was because of the warm weather, and part was because of the dream she had.

In the dream, she saw Yugi dueling. What was odd was that she couldn't see who Yugi was dueling. She also couldn't see Joey, Tristan, or Bakura. She started to run up to Yugi but Yugi was suddenly engulfed in flames. A large machine monster appeared over them which swung what looked like a sickle down on them. Tea screamed.

And sat up in her bed, for it was only a dream. But it felt so real. Tea's face actually felt warm from the flames. She got up and went to get a drink of water.

_Yugi engulfed in flames_, Tea thought as she drank. _What does it mean_? _Is something bad going to happen to him_? _No, don't think like that, Tea. And even if something bad does happen, Yugi's a big boy, he can handle himself. I mean he saved the world enough times that there's nothing to worry about_. But Tea wasn't so sure. She hoped it was just her overactive imagination. She decided to stick by Yugi like glue this summer, or at least get one of the others to watch him. She could never forgive herself if something bad happened to Yugi and she was helpless to do something.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Yugi dashed down the stairs and out the door bidding a good-bye to his grandfather (and missing his complaint about how kids are in such a hurry these days). He hurried to meet his friends downtown.

"Late again, Yug," Joey teased as Yugi ran up to them panting.

"Give me... a break... I... ran... all the way... from home," Yugi wheezed. He then noticed that Tea seemed disturbed about something. "Hey Tea, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing; I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"See, Joey, I told you your snoring was so loud that it kept people across of town from sleeping."

"Oh like you're one to talk," Joey came back.

"Oh brother," Yugi, Tea, and Bakura moaned.

"So what do you want to do first?" Joey asked Yugi.

"Let's check out that new movie theater."

"Hey, yeah, that's a good idea."

Yugi looked behind at Tea but she still seemed apprehensive about something. "Hey guys, go on ahead. Tea and I will catch up. There's something I need to show her."

"Oh, sure," Joey said like he understood the hidden meaning (if there was one). "You two have fun." As the guys pulled ahead, Yugi grabbed Tea's hand.

"Tea, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Come on, Tea, we've known each other for a long time, I can tell that you're upset at something."

"Well, it's just that... Yugi, did you bring your Duel Disk?"

"Yeah, I always keep it in my backpack. Being the winner of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, I have to be prepared for anyone that might challenge me."

"Yugi, I... I think something bad is going to happen."

"What makes you say that?"

Before Tea could reply, the wind around them kept up and a loud whirling noise came from above. Yugi and Tea watched as an apache helicopter with a strange logo landed in front of them. It dropped someone off then took off into the sky again.

The person who was dropped off was a boy older than Yugi. His hair was shiny and black, slicked back from his head. His eyes had a beady look to them. He was dressed in a three-piece blue suit. He was wearing something that looked like a Duel Disk but it was a different color and the wings on each side seemed longer.

"Ah, the great Yugi Moto at last," he said in an accented voice. "Finally, I have you where I want you."

"Who are you?"

_"Yugi, be careful_," Yami warned. "_There's something not right about him. I can feel it."_ Yugi nodded.

"My name is Edric Masters, head of Gamma Technologies. And I am going to duel you."


	4. Devastating Loss

"My name is Edric Masters, head of Gamma Technologies. And I am going to duel you."

"Shouldn't you ask before you challenge someone to a duel?" Yugi asked defiantly.

"I know your type, Yugi. Your kind can't resist showing off your dueling muscles."

"Yugi, I don't trust this creep, let's just go," Tea suggested and began to push Yugi in the opposite direction.

"What's wrong, Yugi Moto? Need to rely on a girl to protect you? If you value your pride as a Duelist, you will duel me!"

"Yugi, you don't have to prove anything to this guy, let's just leave."

"Yeah, let's go," Yugi said reluctantly but as they turned to leave, the Apache landed blocking their way.

"You don't have any option, Yugi Moto, you will duel me."

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice," Yugi said as he and Yami fused through the Millennium Puzzle. "I'll give you one chance to back off, Masters. I don't go lightly on my opponents especially when they threaten me and my friends," Yami-Yugi declared.

"Oh please, you don't think that a Duelist of your stature would turn down a chance to duel me. Now, seeing how this is a... special duel, it requires special rules. And I only have one."

"And that is?"

"Our life points, we each will start with 8000 life points."

"8000!" Yami-Yugi gasped. "This duel could go on all day."

"Oh, I doubt that it will last that long," Edric said cryptically.

Yami-Yugi stared down at his Duel Disk. Kaiba never showed us how to alter the life point counter. I guess he always assumed we would deal with the Battle City issue 4000.

"What's wrong, Yugi? Don't know how to reset your life points so that it shows 8000 instead of 4000? Well, let me help you." Masters pressed a button on his own Duel Disk. A thin laser beam shot out of it and touched the life point counter on Yami-Yugi's. The digits flashed before appearing as 8000.

"Now we're all set to duel."

"Then let's duel!" Yami-Yugi shouted.

_I have a bad feeling about this_, Tea thought.

(Y: 8000)  
(E: 8000)

"Since I'm such a gentleman, I'll let you go first."

Yami-Yugi grunted and looked at his hand: Mystic Clown, Polymerization, Sonic Bird, Kuriboh, Pot of Greed, and he just drew a ritual monster. This is great! I have all I need to perform a ritual summon right off the bat! "You're going to regret letting me go first, Edric. I summon Sonic Bird in attack mode!" An eagle wearing goggles and a jet pack appeared.

Name: Sonic Bird  
Level: 4  
Type: Winged Beast/Effect  
Attribute: Wind  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1000

"When Sonic Bird is summoned, I can use it to take a ritual magic card and add it to my hand." Yugi reached into his deck and whether by faith or luck, he drew the right card. "And I'll use it right now! Black Luster Ritual!"

"A ritual at the very beginning," Edric muttered. "This I didn't prepare for."

"I'll sacrifice my Sonic Bird and Mystic Clown. And now, I'll summon Black Luster Soldier!" A blue-skinned human wearing black and yellow armor and holding a large sword appeared.

Name: Black Luster Soldier  
Level: 8  
Type: Warrior/Ritual  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 3000  
DEF: 2500

"But because I went first, I can't attack you so it's your move."

"Very well," Edric said as he drew his sixth card. "I activate the Graceful Charity card. I'll draw three cards and discard two." The two that Edric discarded was actually two out of the three cards that he received from the Graceful Charity. "I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

_He didn't set a monster out, does he not have any_? _No, he must be counting on those two face-down cards to save him_. _Well, he'll just have to learn the hard way_. Yugi drew a new card. "Black Luster Soldier, attack his life points directly!" The soldier swung his sword and sliced Edric in two, but because it was a hologram, he was all right.

(Y: 8000)  
(E: 5000)

"Good move, Yugi," Tea congratulated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Joey, Tirstan, and Bakura traced their steps back to where they left Yugi and Tea but found that they were blocked by a helicopter.

"What's a helicopter doing in the middle of the street?" Joey asked.

"I don't know but it's blocking our way, come on." Tristan moved around to the side but as soon as he came within a foot of the helicopter, he received an electric shock. "Yeow!" Tristan cried.

"Something isn't right," Joey deduced. "And I have a bad feeling that Yugi and Tea are deep in the thick of it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edric laughed, "Thank you, Yugi. I wanted you to do that."

"You wanted me to bring you down 3000 life points?" Yami-Yugi asked incredulously.

"Yes. You see, I needed to lose 3000 life points so I can activate this." He activated one of his face-down cards. "Inferno Tempest!"

"Inferno Tempest? I never heard of that card."

"Then permit me to explain. You see, when I lose more than 3000 life points from one attack, I can activate this card which causes us to remove all the monster cards from our decks and graveyards and put them out of play."

"No!" Yami-Yugi cried as a wall of fire rushed towards him. His Duel Disk began to spark and Yami-Yugi felt himself shocked with excruciating volts of energy.

"Yugi!" Tea cried. She turned to Edric. "What did you do to him, you creep?"

"Simple. When I reset his life point counter, I also reprogrammed it a little. Now, whenever he gets attacked directly, he'll receive pain like he was really being attacked."

Tea gasped. "Yugi, forfeit the duel! It's not worth you getting hurt!"

"I can handle it," Yami-Yugi assured her. He reluctantly searched through his deck and took out all the monster cards. He then did the same with his graveyard.

"Now all we have to work with are spell and trap cards and the monster cards in our hands and on the field."

"That's all I need to defeat you," Yami-Yugi declared.

"Fine by me, I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

"You still didn't attack me which means I get to attack you again!" He drew a card before ordering, "Black Luster Soldier, attack his life points directly again!"

"Sorry, but I won't give you the opportunity to do that again. Reveal trap card: Shadow Spell!" Yami-Yugi gasped as chains held his Black Luster Soldier down as well as decreases his attack power.

(BLS: 3000---2300)

Edric laughed. "Now that I have incapacitated your best monster, all you have to play with are spell cards and the monsters in your hand." It was true. In addition to Kuriboh, which he still had from his initial turn, the only monster card Yami-Yugi had left was his Giant Soldier of Stone.

"I end my turn," Yami-Yugi conceded.

_Okay, phase one is done; now it's time for phase two_. "I play a spell card, Snatch Steal, to take control of your Black Luster Soldier."

_What's he doing_? Yami-Yugi wondered. _Black Luster Soldier is useless to both duelists... unless... oh no_! Yami-Yugi got a shocked look on his face.

"I can see you figured out what I am planning. Too bad it won't do you any good. I'll sacrifice your Black Luster Soldier so I can summon my Steel Ogre Grotto #2!"

A large one-eyed robot monster rose up.

Name: Steel Ogre Grotto #2  
Level: 6  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1900  
DEF: 2200

"But that's not all. First I activate Spell Economics! Now I won't have to pay life points when I play Weapon Change which exchanges the attack and defense power of my machine monster."

(SOG2: 1900---2200, 2200---1900)

"Ogre, attack Yugi's life points directly!" The Steel Ogre Grotto pounded his fists which made them crackle with electricity. He drove them into Yami-Yugi which made his body convulse from the electric feedback.

(Y: 5800)  
(E: 5000)

"I'm not done with you yet, so I'll just put one card face-down and end my turn."

Yami-Yugi took a deep breath and drew a card. _It's Monster Reborn_! _But... I don't have any monsters to resurrect, since that Inferno Tempest removed all my monsters from the game... wait a second, he said Inferno Tempest only affects the monster cards in our decks and graveyards. But my Black Luster Soldier was on the field when the card was played so when it was sacrificed, it should go to the graveyard instead of being removed from play. That means I can resurrect it_. Yami-Yugi looked through his hand. I_ also have the Axe of Despair_! _Okay, here's what I can do. I can use Monster Reborn to revive the Black Luster Soldier. Because Shadow Spell was destroyed when Black Luster Soldier was sacrificed, it'll be at full power and able to attack. Perfect! I'll do it_! "I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Black Luster Soldier!"

"Oh crud, I forgot that Inferno Tempest doesn't affect monsters on the field," Edric said though he didn't sound too worried. The monster reappeared on the field.

"Next, I'll equip it with my Axe of Despair raising its attack points by 1000!"

(BLS: 3000---4000)

"Activate trap card!" Edric commanded as he revealed one of his face-down cards: Really Eternal Rest.

"Not Really Eternal Rest!" Yami-Yugi gasped as his monster was destroyed. "It's like he knows my strategies inside and out."

"That's because I do," Edric said. "I've been studying your duels for a long time. I've had all your monsters analyzed for weaknesses with this." He held up a device that looked like a portable television. "It's a Monster Analyzer. All I have to do is aim it at a monster and it sends a picture of it to a database which then scans it and provides a counterstrategy. And like I said earlier, I have studied your duels intensively, all preparing for the day when I would challenge and defeat you!"

"You think you're so clever, using technology to plan your strategies. But you'll find that Duel Monsters is more than about strategies. It's also about heart and faith!"

"Oh please, get off your pulpit, Yugi Moto! You'd be surprised what advantage the right piece of hardware will get you. Now, I believe it was my turn." Edric drew a card. "Oh yes, and before I forget, I'll reveal my other trap card: Disappear. And I'll use it to remove your Black Luster Soldier from the game." Yami-Yugi ejected the card from the graveyard and placed it in his pocket along with the rest of his monster cards. "Now, I activate Pot of Greed and I'll set the two cards I gained from it face-down. Next, I'll activate Final Flame and Sparks together which takes 800 life points away from you!" Yami-Yugi was engulfed in holographic flames causing the feedback to attack him mercilessly.

(Y: 5000)  
(E: 5000)

"I end my turn." Steel Ogre Grotto switched back to its original attack and defense points.

(SOG2: 2200---1900, 1900---2200)

Yami-Yugi drew his next card. With the depletion of his monsters, he only had ten cards left. And once those were used up, he would automatically lose the duel.

"Yugi, don't give up!" Tea cheered. "I know you can do it! I have faith in you!"

"Thank you, Tea," Yami-Yugi said. "You don't know how much that means to me."

Edric scoffed. _If that girl thinks that Yugi is actually grateful for her compliments, she's sorely mistaken. Because I know the truth about him and that will make me win this duel... and him lose_!

"I activate Double Spell!" Yami-Yugi discarded his Polymerization card. "Now I can take one spell card from your Graveyard and use it against you. And I choose Final Flame which I'll play now!" Now Edric was covered in flames but he wasn't in pain.

(Y: 5000)  
(E: 4400)

I didn't count on my own cards being used against me. I'll have to be careful next time. "Are you done with your turn?" Edric asked.

"I am."

"Good, now it's time for your pain to continue." Edric drew a card. "Steel Ogre Grotto, attack him directly!" Yami-Yugi screamed in pain and anguish.

(Y: 3100)  
(E: 4400)

Tea could no longer stand by and watch as her friend was consumed with pain. She ran up to him and laid a gentle hand on his arm. "Yugi, are you all right?"

Yami-Yugi smiled and patted her hand. Even through tears of pain, he said, "I'm fine, Tea."

"Don't worry, Yugi, I'm right here besides you."

_I'm glad I have at least one friend here_, Yami-Yugi thought as he drew a card. _As long as Tea's at my side, I feel like I have the strength to continue_.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn," Yami-Yugi informed Edric.

"Very well then, for my turn, I'll place another card face-down and switch my Steel Ogre Grotto to defense mode." His giant machine crossed his arms in a defense stanse.

_He knows I don't have any strong monsters to stand up to his Ogre, so why is he doing that_? Yami-Yugi shook his head. All the shocks were making him disoriented. _I can't worry about that. I've been in tougher spots; this guy is no different from any other opponent. I just have to believe in the heart of the cards like I always do_. Yami-Yugi moved to draw a card.

"Activate trap card." Yami-Yugi didn't even have time to react as he was pummeled with energy causing the card he drew to fall into his discard slot.

(Y: 2300)  
(E: 4400)

As the dust cleared, Yami-Yugi saw that the trap card Edric activated was Sneak Attack, which not only caused 800 points of direct damage, but causes the card that the opposing player drew to be discarded. Even though his body was literally smoking, Yami-Yugi managed to stand.

_I have no choice; I have to play my final monster cards_. "I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode!" A giant made of rock carrying two small swords on his shoulders appeared on one knee, his arms crossed.

Name: Giant Soldier of Stone  
Level: 3  
Type: Rock  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1300  
DEF: 2000

Yugi thought he was safe. His soldier had 2000 defense points while Edric's Steel Ogre had 1900 attack points. That would give him some time to form an effective counterstrategy.

Edric drew a card. "It's time for your downfall, Yugi Moto. And I have all the cards I need for such a feat. First, I play Miracle Dig which allows me to return 3 monster cards that have been removed from play to my Graveyard. Next I'll use Monster Reborn to revive one of them. And the monster I choose is... Megasonic Eye!" A one-eyed monster with no legs appeared.

Name: Megasonic Eye  
Level: 5  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1800

"Now, I'll activate Weapon Change again switching my monsters' attack and defense numbers.

(SOG2: 1900---2200, 2200---1900)  
(MSE: 1500---1800, 1800---1500)

"Ogre, destroy his Soldier of Stone!" The Ogre slugged the Soldier of Stone and destroyed it. "Megasonic Eye, attack his life points directly!" The Megasonic Eye fired a beam from his eye nailing Yami-Yugi square in the chest. Yami-Yugi lost his balance part from the surprise, part from the shock he received.

(Y: 500)  
(E: 4400)

_Oh no, now that he's got more than one monster on the field, I'm doomed_!

"I end my turn."

"Yugi, hang on!"

_That girl's getting real annoying; it would serve Yugi right if... ooh I just had a nasty idea._

Yami-Yugi drew a card. It was the Spellbinding Circle. Yami-Yugi looked at the remaining spell cards he had which included Multiply and Heart of Clear Water. _Maybe I can bluff my way out. It's my only shot_. "I place four cards face-down and summon Kuriboh in defense mode!" A fur ball with large eyes and three toes cooed as he appeared on the field.

Name: Kuriboh  
Level: 1  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 300  
DEF: 200

Edric smiled as he stroked his chin. "Ah, I bet one of your face-down cards is Multiply. I've seen you use it several times during Battle City. Unfortunately, it won't do you any good. I play Spell Reproduction. By discarding two spell cards from my hand..." He showed Yami-Yugi his two spell cards: Fusion Gate and Ground Collapse and placed them in the discard slot. "I can take one spell card from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. And I think I'll take a page from your book and use Final Flame again." Yami-Yugi screamed in pain for the final time before dropping to his knees.

(Y: 0)  
(E: 4400)

"Yugi!" Tea knelt by her friend. "Yugi, are you all right? Speak to me. Say something, anything."

"I'll live," Yami-Yugi assured her.

"Once I'm done with you, Yugi Moto, you'll wish you weren't alive," Edric announced.

"But you already won the duel," Yami-Yugi pointed out.

"Yes, I did win the duel," Edric agreed taking out a remote control. "And a winner must get a prize." Yami-Yugi originally thought that he was going to take his rarest card, as were the rules during Battle City.

He thought wrong.

Pushing a button, the helicopter shot out a metal harness. Tea saw it coming and shoved Yami-Yugi out of the way a split second before the harness enclosed her within its steely grasp and dragged her into the helicopter.

"Tea!" Yugi cried emerging from his union with Yami. He turned to Edric. "What are you doing? Let her go now!"

"Oh please, I know the truth about you, Yugi Moto. I know how you really are. I'm surprised that someone as shallow as you has anybody to care about you. As my reward, I'm taking your companion, a fitting reward for me and a fitting punishment for you." The helicopter took off again and hovered over Edric dropping a rope ladder. "Farewell, Yugi Moto. It was an honor to defeat you!" Edric got on the rope ladder as the helicopter began taking to the sky.

"No!" Yugi cried as Joey, Tristan, and Bakura ran up to him.

"Hey Yug, you know what that was all about? Where's Tea?"

Yugi ignored his friend and instead started to run after the helicopter. "Hey, wait, stop! Bring her back! You can't do this!"

"Will someone please explain what's going on?" Tristan shouted.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling," Bakura said.

"Hey Einstein, how about you say something helpful?" Joey said sarcastically.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Will that be your usual method of payment, Mai?" A salesgirl asked.

"You know it, Sarah," Mai Valentine agreed. Suddenly she could hear the sound of helicopter propellers followed by yelling. Mai and the girl watched as people braced themselves as a gust of wind picked up. Then a familiar spiky-haired figure ran by. Mai ran to the door and watched as the kid ran around the corner.

"Yugi? What could he be running after in the sky?"

"Mai, you're all set," the salesgirl said.

"Keep an eye on my stuff for a second, will you, Sarah? I need to check something out. I'll be right back."

"Okay, but..." But Mai was already out the door of the clothing store.

_That wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me, Yugi WAS running after something in the sky. I wonder what it was. Well if Yugi's screaming his head off, it must be something really important to him_.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi ran after the helicopter as fast as he could. "I'll never catch them at this rate," he told Yami, who was floating as fast as he could run. "We have no choice; we have to bring a Shadow Realm monster to life!"

_"But Yugi, summoning a Shadow Realm monster requires you putting a piece of your soul into it. It could kill you!"_

"I don't care, as long as I can save Tea! Besides, it doesn't have to be a strong one, just one that can fly."

_"Then let me do it_," Yami said emerging into Yugi's body. "My soul is much more endurable than yours." Yami searched through his deck until he found a monster that could fly. "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress, I summon you from the Shadow Realm! Come alive now and obey your master!" The Millennium Puzzle started to move and glow as did the card. A flash of light took the form of a familiar blue dragon with short wings.

Name: Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1  
Level: 4  
Type: Dragon  
Attribute: Wind  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1200

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mai skidded to a halt. She lost Yugi. "What the... where'd he go?" Another gust of wind picked up and Mai struggled to hold her skirt down. She looked up as a Duel Monster that she recognized soared into the air. "Now that's impressive," she critiqued.

"Dragon," Yami said. "We have to catch up to that helicopter." He was riding on the Winged Dragon's back. The Winged Dragon must've understood Yami because he started flapping faster.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the helicopter, the pilot saw it and was dumbstruck. He turned to Edric who was trying to keep Tea under control. "We have company!" Edric and Tea looked out of the helicopter.

"Yugi!" Tea cried happily.

"How did he... why does that thing look like a Duel Monster?" Edric asked.

"Because it is a Duel Monster, nimrod," Tea snapped with a knowing smile on her face. "And once Yugi catches up with you, what he'll do to you will literally blow your mind."

"Well maybe I should blow his body up before he blows my mind up," Edric said and turned to the pilot. "Blast him!"

"No, you can't!" Tea shouted squirming in the metal harness.

"Watch me!" Edric nodded to the pilot who nodded back.

A pair of lasers popped out from a hidden compartment and started firing at Yugi.

"Dragon, dodge!" Yami commanded. The Winged Dragon banked to avoid the lasers but the lasers were movement sensitive. It was no use. The lasers followed the Winged Dragon's movements and fired. Both Yami and the Winged Dragon were hit. The Winged Dragon was destroyed and Yami was in freefall.

_"Yami_!" Yugi shouted. He switched places with Yami. "At least you can be safe inside the Millennium Puzzle." He stared at the rapidly departing helicopter. _I'm sorry, Tea, I failed you, I failed... everyone._

"YUGI!" Tea cried watching him fall to the ground. Edric just snubbed his nose at the falling Yugi.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seto and Mokuba Kaiba were on their way home when Mokuba suddenly spied a pair of legs sticking out from an alleyway. "Stop the car!" He shouted to the driver.

"Mokuba, what is it?" His big brother asked.

"Seto, there's someone lying in the alleyway! I think they're hurt!"

"What?" Mokuba ran from the car to check on the body.

"Seto, take a look at this!" Kaiba instructed the driver to wait as he got out.

"It's Yugi!" Kaiba realized once he saw Yugi's body lying by some overturned trash cans that served as the only cushion from death.

"He looks like he's in bad shape," Mokuba commented.

"Looks like he always does to me," Kaiba cracked.

"Seto, this is serious, he looks hurt to me." Seto hated to admit it, but Mokuba was right. It didn't even look like Yugi was breathing.

Then Yugi gasped and Kaiba amended his earlier conclusion.

Yugi struggled to open his eyes. All he could see was a brown and black blur.

"Tea..." he muttered. "I... have to res..." And those were the only words Yugi was able to get out before falling unconscious.

"Tea, what does Tea have to do with anything?" Mokuba asked. "Seto, I think we should take him home."

"Forget it," Kaiba said. "We owe him nothing. At any rate, he owes me."

"Seto, how can you be so heartless? I know Yugi Moto's your arch-rival but if someone doesn't do something, Yugi could die. Could you live with that on your conscience?" Seto had never seen his little brother so passionate. He looked down at Yugi's motionless form. He finally hauled Yugi over his shoulder. "As long as we're just bringing him home," Kaiba said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tea struggled against her metal bonds that were chaffing her body even through her clothes. Edric took her to a house at the base of Mount Fuji. The mansion was incredibly huge but Tea saw none of it. Instead, she was confined to a sub-basement. The room was about as big as a grand ballroom, definitely big enough to duel in.

Edric was still crowing about his defeat of Yugi Moto. "Oh, that was so easy!" He practically yelled. "With just one card, I pounded Yugi Moto, figuratively and literally! Oh yes, and that fall was sweet too. I wouldn't be surprised if he was killed."

"How can you be so heartless?" Tea said. "Don't you care that you could've killed someone? Don't you care that you're breaking the law?"

"It's not breaking the law if you get away with it," Edric argued. "And I got away with quite a lot, didn't I." He cupped one of Tea's cheeks and ran his fingers down her neck. Tea spat on him. "Oh, aren't we mature."

"Yugi will come to rescue me, just you wait."

To her surprise, Edric simply laughed at that. "Oh, I have no doubt that he'll come. But the reason might not be what you think it is."

"I don't understand."

"Yugi Moto will come, but it won't be to rescue you." Tea gasped. "That's right. Sorry to pull you off your high horse, but I've studied Yugi's type for a long time. Duelists like him only care about pride and glory. Nothing else matters. Yugi will come, but it will be to challenge me to a rematch, not to rescue you."

"No... you're wrong," Tea said quietly.

"You probably had a front row seat to some of Yugi's best duels. Didn't you notice the fire, the passion that Yugi had whenever he dueled? And it's not just him. I was at the very same Duelist Kingdom tournament when your precious Yugi defeated Maxamillion Pegasus. I was only able to duel five times before falling victim to one of Pegasus' Eliminators. But of those five times I dueled, all my opponents cared about nothing but earning the prize money and glory that came with the title of King of Games. They all cared about nobody but themselves. And your Yugi is no different. You hold him up so high. But in fact, he's nothing more but a shallow self-centered blowhard."

"You mean like you?"

"Yes, like me, like all Duelists. All Duelists are like that and I'm out to knock some humility into them."

"You should start with yourself."

"This little war of words is getting tiresome. You just wait. Even if Yugi did survive that fall, even if he does find this place, he will come only to challenge me to a duel and he could care less about what happens to you." And he left her bound to the wall in the dark.

_Yugi, please, save me_.


	5. Soul of the Duelist

Kaiba and Mokuba did bring Yugi home. And along with Joey, Tristan, and Bakura, began to piece together what happened. Solomon bandaged Yugi's head and then Joey and Tristan hauled him up to bed. While they did that, Solomon turned to the Kaiba Brothers. "Kaiba, Mokuba, thank you for bringing my grandson home."

"I can't believe Tea's missing," Mokuba said. "Someone should call the police."

"It probably wouldn't do any good. We don't know where that apache took her," Bakura pointed out. "We would just be sending them on a wild goose chase."

"Come on, Mokuba," Kaiba said forcefully. "We're leaving."

"Huh?"

"I did my good Samaritan act now I'm going home. Let the Dork Squad figure out what happened to Yugi's little girlfriend. They don't even know who kidnapped her."

"It was Edric Masters," said Yugi's voice. Yugi stumbled down the stairs into the store. His head was bandaged and he wasn't even wearing the Millennium Puzzle. Joey and Tristan were right behind him, urging him to get back into bed.

Kaiba turned around. "Did you say Edric Masters, as in the head of Gamma Technologies?"

"That's how he introduced himself," Yugi confirmed. His voice was weak, even weaker than it usually is. "He overpowered me in a duel and kidnapped Tea after he won."

Kaiba grunted. "So you actually lost one. Well I can't say I'm sorry to hear that. I've been feeling the pain of losing for years. And before you say it, I know what it feels like to lose a loved one after a duel."

Bakura's Millennium Ring began to glow and a ghostly voice said, "_You're such a pathetic mortal, Yugi. You had the boundless powers of the Millennium Puzzle at your disposal and you couldn't even save one girl. Such a feeble action, you don't deserve the Millennium Puzzle._"

"Zip it, ya' overgrown coaster or I'll smash ya' in two," Joey threatened.

"_Fool, I won't even feel it_."

But to everyone's surprise, Yugi said, "No, Joey, the spirit of Bakura's ring is right. I saved the world, I been to other dimensions, had my life threatened more times than I could care to remember. Yet when it came crunch time, I couldn't save the one person I cared about." Yugi took out his deck and stared at it. "I don't deserve to be a Duelist."

"Just because you lost one duel? I thought you were made of sterner stuff, Yugi," Kaiba spat.

"This isn't about losing one duel, Kaiba," Yugi said, his eyes overflowing with tears. "This is about not being able to save one of my friends! You said it yourself; you know what it's like to lose a loved one. Don't you remember the helplessness you felt? Don't you remember the despair? Well that's what I feel right now. I was humiliated and then had Tea kidnapped right in front of me. A lost like that... I can't deal with." He laid his dueling deck on the counter. "The Inferno Tempest card... it affects all the monsters in the duelist's deck as well as their graveyard. I sent my monsters into battle carelessly without even thinking of what Edric's face-down cards were capable of. And in return for my recklessness; I had them obliterated from the duel without even playing them. I should've realized there was a trap but I didn't. I failed everyone. I failed Tea, I failed my cards, and most of all, I failed myself." He walked out of the Game Shop.

"Boy, I haven't seen Yug this beat since... heck, I've NEVER seen Yug this beat," Joey commented.

"I guess Tea really meant that much to him," Tristan said.

"Yugi has lost his faith in his cards, and in himself," Solomon said. He paused in thought then turned to Kaiba. "Kaiba, you and Yugi have been rivals since literally the very beginning. I think that if anyone can restore his faith in the heart of the cards, you can."

"Oh please, I'm a Duelist, not a preacher."

"Precisely and that's why I want you to duel my grandson. Duel Yugi; so he can re-discover the faith inside him and rescue Tea."

"What do you think, Seto?" Mokuba asked. "You've been aching for a rematch. And when you get right down to it, it's no skin off your back what the outcome is."

Kaiba paused. It was true that he wanted to have a rematch with Yugi ever since Battle City. Perhaps...

"Hey Mr. Moto, I think I know a way to perk Yugi up." Joey whispered something in the old man's ear.

"Joey, that's brilliant!"

"Uh-oh, Joey saying something brilliant, guess what just froze over," Tristan quipped.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day, Yugi took a walk through Domino Park. He stopped underneath a tree and lay down. He yawned widely. He was having nightmares all night, nightmares about Edric hurting Tea or worst. He sickened himself and even had to cover his mouth to keep from vomiting up breakfast.

"_Yugi, I'm worried about you_," Yami said appearing in spirit form sitting besides his young counterpart. "_You're not going to give up on Tea, are you? She's counting on you... on us to rescue her."_

"Even if we were to make a rescue attempt, we don't know where to find Edric. He could be anywhere from China to California. And even if we could find him, how would we rescue her? Edric's technology isn't restricted to his cards. The way he destroyed my Winged Dragon with those lasers is proof of that."

"_Challenge him to a rematch! Demand the right to duel for Tea's safety. I guarantee you'll win_."

"But Yami, I lost more than just a duel. I lost my faith; I lost the heart of the cards. I'm not upset that I lost the duel, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but Edric all but killed me when all I wanted to do was rescue Tea. He... he's just like all the bullies I've ever encountered, always kicking on anybody to get what they want. Then kicking them again for good measure and again just for the heck of it."

"_I understand now, Yugi. What happened to you yesterday is like what happened to you in the past, when you were picked on by others. Yugi, I know you're stronger than anyone believes, even you. The heart of the cards comes from your heart. Search your heart, Yugi, and you'll find that you haven't lost anything inside you."_

Suddenly a shadow covered him. Yugi looked up and scrunched his eyes. The shadow looked like Kaiba.

"Yugi." Yup, it was Kaiba.

"Kaiba? What is it?"

Kaiba was dressed in his silver coat over black shirt and pants. He turned around. "Follow me, there's something I need to show you."

"Okay." Yugi followed Kaiba to the new Duel Dome. The main arena was set up like a coliseum. Mokuba was in the control room but he came out.

"Prepare yourself, Yugi, because we are going to duel!"

"Kaiba, now is NOT the time to be starting up this old game."

"I'm not giving you much of a choice, Yugi. If you truly lost your faith in the cards, maybe you've been relying too much on them. The only way to know for sure is to duel a strong opponent. And I'm just the Duelist to show you that."

_This is just like how Edric challenged me_.

"_Yugi, take him up on his challenge_," Yami advised. "_Knowing Kaiba, he already locked the doors and I doubt that any of us is going anywhere until this duel happens."_

Yugi sighed furiously. "Even if I did agree to a duel, I don't have a Duel Disk or my deck."

Mokuba came out holding two duel disks. He gave one to his brother and handed the other to Yugi. "Joey brought it by a few minutes ago."

_Joey's involved in this_? _What's going on_? _I thought Joey and Kaiba hated each other's guts_.

"I set my Duel Disk so that it displayed 8000 life points just like Masters. And don't worry, I deactivated that little torture trap that Edric programmed into your Duel Disk. Despite what you may think, I am not a fan of torturing anybody, not even my enemies."

"Why are you doing this, Kaiba?" Yugi asked.

"Being the number one Duelist that I am, I can tell who's meant to be a Duelist and who isn't. This duel will decide whether or not you are worthy to call yourself the King of Games. Or if you should step down from your throne and choose me as a successor."

Yami got ready to fuse with Yugi but for some reason, he couldn't connect. It was Yugi's soul, he was actually repelling him. Yami further decided that Yugi needed to go through this Duel by himself. Who knows, it might actually help him.

"Let's duel!" They both cried.

(Y: 8000)  
(K: 8000)

"You go first." It was an order.

Yugi nodded and looked at his hand: Dion Keto, the Cure Master, Alpha the Magnet Warrior, Big Shield Gardna, Electric Lizard, and Red Medicine. Yugi drew Lady of Faith. "I summon Lady of Faith in attack mode!" A blue-haired woman in colorful robes appeared.

Name: Lady of Faith  
Level: 3  
Type: Spellcaster  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1100  
DEF: 800

Kaiba drew his sixth card. "This will be too easy. First, I activate the spell card Dark Hole!" The ground underneath the Lady of Faith gave away and she fell into darkness, screaming all the way as the hole closed up. "It's kind of ironic that you lost your faith in your cards as quickly as you lost that Lady of Faith monster card of yours. Perhaps your so-called heart-of-the-cards is just a joke.

"_How dare he insult the heart of the cards_," Yami said. "_Yugi, let's show him_!" But Yugi was oblivious to Yami's shouts.

Joey and Tristan were watching it from the stands behind Yugi.

"I hope Kaiba doesn't blow this, Yugi really needs to start believing in himself if he's going to rescue Tea."

"I just hope this plan of yours works, Joey."

"Hey, whenever had a plan of mine didn't work?" Tristan started counting on his fingers. "Don't answer that," Joey amended.

Kaiba said, "I play Lord of Dragons in attack mode!" A human wearing dragon scale armor appeared.

Name: Lord of Dragons (Lord of D.)  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1200  
DEF: 1100

Yugi gasped. Kaiba noticed it.

"So you probably guessed what I'm trying to do. And I can do it too. I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon which I can use to special summon two Blue-Eyes White Dragons!" The Lord of Dragons blew on the dragon-shape horn and Kaiba's trademark monsters appeared on either side of it.

Name: Blue-Eyes White Dragon  
Level: 8  
Type: Dragon  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 3000  
DEF: 2500

"All monsters attack his life points directly! First, Lord of Dragons! Attack with Ryu Fist!" Energy swirled around the Lord of Dragons' arm and he punched Yugi. "Now, Blue-Eyes White Dragons, attack with White Lightning!" Yugi's field of vision was consumed in white light.

(Y: 800)  
(K: 8000)

"Aww man, Kaiba's ego is going to make my great plan go straight down the toilet!" Joey cried.

"Won't be the first time," Tristan threw in.

"You're not helping."

"Look at the King of Games," Kaiba scoffed. "Only my opening move and you're already one attack away from being defeated! Maybe you're right, Yugi, maybe you don't deserve to be a Duelist."

"So, why don't you finish me?" Yugi asked.

"I prefer to prolong your suffering."

"I thought you said you didn't like torture?"

"Are you feeling any physical pain?"

"No."

"Then it's not torture, is it?"

_This is just like how Edric and I dueled_. _What do I do_? _If I couldn't defeat Edric, how can I defeat Kaiba_?

"Yugi, I'm smart enough to know not to kick a person when he's down, so I'll give you one more chance." He set his last card face-down. "Right now, I have no cards in my hand. But when I have 5 cards in my hand, I'll activate my face-down spell card and you'll be destroyed."

5 turns, that doesn't give me much time. My best bet is to try to defeat his Lord of Dragons first, then I can use spell and trap cards to take out his Blue-Eyes White Dragons.

"I end my turn. Now, Yugi, it's your turn."

Yugi drew a card but as he looked at it, a thought occurred to him. Wait, before I can defeat his Lord of Dragons, I need to bring my life points out of the red zone. Fortunately, I have three cards that can help. "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master, along with Red and Blue Medicine to increase my life points by a total of 1900!"

(Y: 2700)  
(K: 8000)

"A desperate move, Yugi, but then again, you're a desperate person."

"Don't push me, Kaiba, I'm not in the mood for your wise cracks."

"At least Yugi's out of the dog house," Tristan said.

"Yes, but it'll take more than raising his life points to win this duel," Bakura said.

"Hey, Bakura, did you plant the cards."

"Sure did. Although they are fairly common cards, I think Yugi will find them extra special."

"I set one card face-down in defense mode and end my turn."

"Very well then, looks like it's my turn." Kaiba drew his card. "I switch both of my Dragons into defense mode!" The Dragons laid their heads on the ground. "Now, Lord of Dragons, attack Yugi's face-down card!" The card turned out to be the Electric Lizard.

Name: Electric Lizard  
Level: 3  
Type: Thunder/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 850  
DEF: 800

"Too bad, by attacking my Electric Lizard, your Lord of Dragons can't attack during his next turn."

"It's no big lost," Kaiba said. "I still have four turns left before I finish you off for good."

"We'll see," Yugi muttered as he looked at his hand. He still had Alpha, the Magnet Warrior, Big Shield Gardna, and Trap Hole. And he just drew Pot of Greed. "I play Pot of Greed." Yugi drew two cards: Dark Magician and Spellcaster Summons. Spellcaster Summons gave Yugi the ability to summon any low-level Spellcaster from his deck but at the cost of 1000 life points and right now, losing life points is the last thing he needs to do. _I can't do this_, Yugi thought. _I can't, it doesn't matter what I do, Kaiba's won_.

"_Yugi, don't give up,"_ Yami said. "_It's not over yet. You have 2700 life points left; you can afford to lose 1000, especially if it means summoning another monster."_

"I end my turn," Yugi said.

"Gee, Joey, looks like Yugi's not getting his confidence back," Tristan said.

"Let's not throw in the towel just yet, Tristan," Bakura recommended. "After all, Yugi hasn't drawn the cards yet."

Kaiba drew a card and announced, "Three more turns left, Yugi. A smart Duelist would've probably realized when he was beat and given up."

Yugi drew a card. It was Malevolent Nuzzler, but Yugi did not have any monsters to equip it. "I choose to end my turn without playing a card.

Kaiba drew a card. "Lord of Dragons, attack his life points directly!"

(Y: 1500)  
(K: 8000)

"I think it's time for you to get a taste of your own medicine. You're always preaching about how you won by believing in the heart of the cards. Where's your belief now, Yugi? Where is this heart of the cards you believe in so much? Do you even know what it is?"

I don't know, Kaiba, Yugi wanted to say. How can I believe in my cards when I can't even believe in myself?

_"Your cards believe in you."_

Yugi jumped as a new voice echoed through your mind. It wasn't Yami or any voice that he recognized. He looked down at his hand. The Dark Magician looked like it was staring right at him.

_"You must believe in your cards because your cards believe in you." _This time, it was a different voice, a female one. Yugi looked down at his deck.

"My cards... believe in me?" Yugi muttered.

"What was that, Yugi? Was that a forfeit?" Kaiba joked.

_My cards still believe in me even though I don't believe in myself. Is that... is that what the heart of the cards is, you and your cards believing in each other, just like how friends believe in each other_? _Well if my cards haven't given up on me, then I can't give up on me either_!

"So what do you say, Yugi, a forfeit? I won't think any less of you than I already do."

"No, Kaiba, I'm not giving up," Yugi said. He drew a card and looked at it.

He gasped. _This... this is one of the cards Tea used in her duel against Mai_! He remembered what he once told Tea about comparing yourself to your favorite card: _It's like putting a little bit of yourself into each card._

_I see_, Yugi realized. _When someone gives you their favorite card, they're not just giving you a card they like, it's like they're giving you a piece of their soul_! _This card is Tea's, so even though she's not here, it's like a piece of her is with me. Tea never gave up on me even when the going got tough and I'm not going to let her down now_.

"Yugi, I'm waiting!" Kaiba said.

"I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"You idiot, you didn't even play a monster! Yugi, my patience with you is finally done. If you believe yourself to be a loser, then I'll make you a loser! I switch my Blue-Eyes White Dragons into attack mode!"

"Kaiba, you're not supposed to win."

"So much for your grandiose plan," Tristan shrugged.

"Yugi, I sincerely hope you learn from this duel. I've learned from every lost you gave me and I use them to grow stronger. Hopefully, you will do the same. Blue-Eyes, attack with White Lightning!" Energy began forming in the dragon's mouth. Yugi looked at the hologram of the face-down card. In his mind, he could see Tea. Her eyes, her face, her smile, her laugh, it was like he could feel her essence coming from that card.

The Blue-Eyes launched its attack.

"Activate trap card!" Yugi cried just before the attack struck.

Joey, Tristan, and Bakura watched in horror as Yugi was struck dead-on.

Kaiba let out a triumphant laugh. "I did it, I did it! I finally defeated the great Yugi Moto! Now I am once again the number one Duelist in the... huh?" The energy that engulfed Yugi was expanding. Suddenly it burst outward. There, standing in the center of a circle of three robed priest-like figures was Yugi Moto, or rather, Yami-Yugi. In front of him was the trap card he activated just before the attack struck: Waboku.

"Yugi deflected the attack!" Bakura cried.

"Yes, I knew he could do it!" Tristan shouted.

"See, I told 'ya," Joey said smugly. "Yugi just needed a reminder that even though his friends aren't there physically, they'll always be there for you when you're in a jam. Waboku was the card Tea used to turn around her duel with Mai so when Yugi saw it, he remembered that even though he lost, she still cared about him. And from the looks of it, that restarted his belief in the heart of the cards, and in his own heart."

"Joey, I hate to admit it, but that plan of yours was awesome."

"Hey, I may not look like it, but I'm a well of awesome plans."

"Yeah, well, maybe you should dry up while you're ahead."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh never mind, it was a good plan though."

"Yeah, it was."

Kaiba was speechless. "What... but how... where did..."

"I should thank you, Kaiba, you reminded me that whether I win or lose, there are always people who care about me and willing to help me out. This card is Waboku. And it can neutralize the damage by all of my opponent's monsters for this turn which means that your other Blue-Eyes and your Lord of Dragons are powerless this time around."

Kaiba scowled. "Don't think this isn't over, I still have enough fire power to beat you, Yugi!"

"Perhaps, then again, perhaps not," Yami-Yugi said as the priests disappeared. "Dueling Edric showed me that one card can make all the difference in a duel." Yami-Yugi closed his eyes and drew a card. "And this card just might make a difference. I play Spellcaster Summons. For a cost of 1000 life points, I can summon any low-level spellcaster monster from my deck!

(Y: 500)  
(K: 8000)

"And the spellcaster I choose is... Maha Vailo!" From Yami-Yugi's deck came a man wearing blue robes with two blade-shape wings on his back.

Name: Maha Vailo  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1550  
DEF: 1400

"Tea once told me that I remind her of this monster because it has a hidden special ability. And you're about to experience it first hand, for I equip him with the Axe of Despair which raises his attack points by 1000!"

(MV: 1550---2550)

"Now, Maha Vailo's secret ability kicks in. For every spell card equipped to him, he gains 500 extra attack points!"

(MV: 2550---3050)

"Maha Vailo, your target is Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Golden Axe Slash!" Maha Vailo swung his axe and sliced the giant dragon in two.

(Y: 500)  
(K: 7950)

"And I end my turn."

_I don't believe this_! _Yugi was able to defeat my mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon with just a little Maha Vailo card_! _I have to protect my life points from another attack_! "I switch my surviving Blue-Eyes and my Lord of Dragons into defense mode," Kaiba said.

"Now who's making the desperate moves?" Yami-Yugi asked. He drew a card and smiled as he looked at his hand. "I think I'll use another equip spell card and this one's really good. I equip Maha Vailo with Malevolent Nuzzler!" Gray smoke swirled around Yami-Yugi's monster and he breathed it in.

(MV: 3050---3750)

"And Maha Vailo's special ability brings its attack points up another 500!"

(MV: 3750---4250)

"But that's not all; I also play Stop Defense on your Lord of Dragons." The Lord of Dragons stood up to face Maha Vailo. "Maha Vailo, attack Kaiba's Lord of Dragons now!" Maha Vailo swung his golden axe again and caused little eruption to appear all the way to the Lord of Dragons where a huge explosion engulfed the monster.

(Y: 500)  
(K: 4900)

"Without your Lord of Dragons, your Blue-Eyes are susceptible to spell and trap cards again."

Kaiba stared at the face-down card he had. He knew he could end it by just activating it. He looked at his remaining Blue-Eyes. There seemed to be a intelligence in the creature's eyes, a intelligence and gentleness that Kaiba never thought a hologram could do. Kaiba looked down at his deck again and gently laid his palm on top of it. "I forfeit, Yugi."

Yami-Yugi was surprised, Kaiba never forfeits. He prefers to go down fighting like Yami-Yugi himself does. Finally, Yami-Yugi stood down. "I accept your forfeit."

"Yes!" Yami and Yugi separated and Yugi turned to look at his friends who ran down the stairs. "Congratulations, Yug, you won the duel."

"I did more than just that, I gained my confidence back. It was like gaining my heart back." Yugi turned to Kaiba. "Thanks, Kaiba, I owe you big time."

"This little melodrama doesn't count as a real duel. When we duel for real, I won't be pulling any punches. I expect you to do the same."

"I understand," Yugi said. Deep down, he still wondered who those voices who called out to him were. On a whim, he lifted up the top card in his deck. It was the Dark Magician Girl. "Kaiba, just one question: what was the card that you were going to use against me when you got five cards?"

Kaiba took out the card and threw it to Yugi. "Take a look for yourself," he said.

Yugi looked at the card. It was a spell card called Ookazi. Once activated, it deals 800 points of direct damage to the opponent's life points. "Kaiba, if you used this card in your initial turn, you would've won the duel in one turn."

"Have you forgotten already? I said that this doesn't count as a real duel."

"Hey, I won't say anything," Yugi said. "Right, guys?" The others nodded.

"So Yug, are ya' ready to rescue Tea?"

"Now I am," Yugi said. "Let's do this!" The others (except Kaiba) threw their hands together. "Rescuing Tea will mean nothing if we can't find her."

"Leave that to me," Kaiba volunteered. "I'll hack into Gamma Technology's mainframe and find out where Masters lives. With his ego, he would like to keep his trophies close."

"Thanks, Kaiba."

"Don't think I'm doing this out of kindness, I'm only doing it to get back at Masters for trying to take over my company."

"That's all right, I appreciate the help nonetheless."

"In the mean time, the rest of us can train you so you'll be ready to beat that maniac Masters."

"Thanks, guys. Okay, let's do it!" Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura threw their hands up in a cheer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And so, for the next three days, everyone prepared for the eventual conflict with Masters. Kaiba, for all his egoism and attitude, was true to his word and found out where Masters lived in no time. In the mean time, Yugi trained by having practice duels with Joey and Kaiba, when he wasn't busy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tea struggled to remain conscious. It felt like she has been cooped up here forever. Once in a while, one of Edric's robot servants came down to give her a drink of water and an apple. At first, she refused it, but the last time, hunger forced her to accept his mock kindness.

_What's Edric waiting for_? Tea wondered. _Why is he keeping me down here_? _If he's going to do something to me, why doesn't he just do it_? Tea's eyes felt red. She had used up all her tears long ago. _Yugi, what happened to you_? _Did you really die in that crash_? _No, I refuse to believe it; I refuse to believe you're dead. You'll come, I know you will. I know it, I just..._ but as much as Tea tried to hope, she started to wonder if perhaps, Yugi had forgotten about her. Perhaps Edric was right. Perhaps Yugi really didn't care about her.


	6. Ladybug

On the third day, Yugi came down stairs as determined as ever. Joey, Tristan, Bakura, his Grandpa, Kaiba, and Mokuba were in the store.

"Here," Kaiba said handing Yugi a folded piece of paper. "It's a map to Masters' place." Yugi opened it and looked at the route. It looked like it was pretty far off. It would probably be a 90 minute hike. Fortunately, the map also had familiar landmarks like Domino School, the Game Shop, and Kaiba Corp so he wouldn't get lost.

"This is it," Yugi announced to the six humans and two Millennium Item spirits. "If I had my way, I'd rather just get Tea and get out of there without dueling Edric, but... if for some reason I don't come back, I just wanted to say thanks for everything you all have done. I'm very grateful to have friends like you."

"Yugi, wait," Joey said. He took out a card. "I want you to take the Swamp Battleguard."

"Take the Lava Battleguard too," Tristan added. "You never know when you're going to need their powering-up ability."

Joey nodded then handed another card to Yugi. "I also want you to take Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman. Some of your cards require you to sacrifice other cards so this will make a good sacrifice card."

"Joey..."

"Hey, Yug, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to get the Duelist Kingdom prize money for Serenity's operation. This is the least I can do."

"Yugi, take one of my cards too," Bakura said offering him his Enchanted Javelin trap card.

"Bakura, are you sure?" Bakura nodded.

"Yugi, I also have a card for you," his grandfather said. He handed Yugi the Flame Manipulator. "I know it may seem worthless, but when used in the right combo, it can be really strong."

Kaiba noticed Mokuba looking through his deck. Mokuba had been trying to form his own deck for quite a while and said that he wanted to create a deck himself without any help from Seto. Mokuba took out a card. "Here, Yugi, this might make a good sacrifice monster too." It was the Man-Eating Treasure Chest.

"Thanks, Mokuba. Well, I guess this is it."

"Wait a second, Yugi," Kaiba said. "I don't think you'll get very far in a duel with 8000 life points with two level 5 cards and three weak cards. You might as well take a card that you can actually use." He tossed Yugi his Vorse Raider card.

"Vorse Raider?"

Kaiba nodded. "I just expect you to return it to me without a scratch."

"You got it. Thanks, everyone. I promise I'll make you all proud." And he left the Game Store.

Joey punched his palm in frustration. "I hate waiting. I wish there was a way we could find out what's going on."

Kaiba pondered that. "Perhaps there is..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following Kaiba's map, Yugi made his way through Domino. In his mind, he went through what he would say to Tea when he saw her. _Tea, I'm really sorry I wasn't there for you when you really needed me. But don't worry, I'm here now, and I'll do anything to make sure you're safe, even if it means..._

"Well, if it isn't little Yugi," a nasal voice said.

"Oh no," Yugi groaned He recognized that voice, Weevil Underwood. The insect Duelist was standing before Yugi blocking his way. "Weevil, I don't have time to deal with you right now."

"You'll just have to make time. You owe me a duel and I intend to collect."

"Weevil, my friend is in trouble, I have to save her."

"Well your friend will just have to wait while I squash you for the humiliation you and your gnat Joey Wheeler gave me." Yugi tried going around Weevil but Weevil kept blocking his way.

"Looks like I have no choice," Yugi complained as he activated his Duel Disk. "I have to beat Weevil if I'm going to save Tea."

"That's the problem with cockroaches," a new voice said. "No matter how many times you stomp on them, they always come back." Yugi and Weevil turned and saw a voluptuous woman with wavy blonde hair and purple eyes wearing a white denim jacket with matching skirt and heels.

"Mai!" Yugi called, surprised and a little glad to see her.

Weevil, however, wasn't as ecstatic. "Stay out of this, Valentine; this is between me and Little Yugi."

"Obviously your memory is as small as those bugs you love so much, Weevil. You couldn't even beat Joey at Battle City, and Yugi already beat you once before. I should know; I was there. What makes you think you can beat him again. You probably couldn't even beat me in a duel let alone Yugi."

"Is that a challenge?"

"You bet it is!" Mai activated her Duel Disk. "You beat me, then you can duel Yugi. But don't think that far ahead because you won't even get passed me." She cast an eye at Yugi. "Say kid, don't you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Yeah, I do. Thanks, Mai!"

"It won't matter. This won't take long," Weevil said as Yugi went around him and ran off into the distance.

"Let's Duel, shorty!" Mai said.

(W: 4000)  
(M: 4000)

"I summon Atomic Firefly in attack mode!" Weevil called. An insect-shaped nuclear bomb appeared.

Name: Atomic Firefly  
Level: 1  
Type: Insect/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 100  
DEF: 200

"Well I summon D. D. Warrior Lady in attack mode!" Mai countered. A blonde woman wearing armor appeared.

Name: D. D. Warrior Lady  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1600

"Attack!" The both shouted. The Warrior Lady swung her sword. The moment she hit the firefly, it exploded taking both of them.

"By attacking my Atomic Firefly, you activated its special ability which takes you down by 1000 life points."

"Well by allowing my Warrior Lady to attack you, her special ability activates which removes both monsters from the game."

(W: 2600)  
(M: 3000)

"You'll pay for that," Weevil said. "I summon Neo Bug in attack mode." Neo Bug had the body of a grasshopper but wings of a Dragon Fly and its tail looked like a fly's pinchers.

Name: Neo Bug  
Level: 4  
Type: Insect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1700

"Attack her directly!" Weevil commanded. The Neo Bug sandwiched Mai with its pinchers.

(W: 2600)  
(M: 1200)

Weevil laughed hysterically. "You're only one attack from being defeated, Valentine! You'll pay for disrespecting me and keeping me from my revenge!"

"Go fly into a bug zapper, wormy," Mai insulted infuriating Weevil. "Anyway, it's over for your turn so now it's my turn." She drew a card. "I summon Amazoness Fighter in attack mode!" The Amazoness Fighter was a burly woman with long spiky dark hair.

Name: Amazoness Fighter  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1300

"Next, I'll activate Tribute Doll!"

"Oh no, don't tell me you're going to special summon a level 7 monster!" Weevil gasped.

"Bingo, and this card was inspired by a special friend of mine. I special summon... Guardian Angel Joan!"

"I told you not to tell me," Weevil moaned as a bright light took the form of another female monster. As her name suggests, Guardian Angel Joan was a more magnificent, more angelic version of the fusion monster.

Name: Guardian Angel Joan  
Level: 7  
Type: Fairy/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 2800  
DEF: 2000

"Fortunately for you, using Tribute Doll means I can't attack so I end my turn."

_I have to protect my life points from that... powerhouse pixie_. "I switch Neo Bug into defense mode and summon Arsenal Bug in attack mode!" Arsenal Bug was a brown beetle carrying a sword and a shield.

Name: Arsenal Bug  
Level: 3  
Type: Insect/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 2000  
DEF: 2000

"I lay one card face-down and end my turn." She can't resist attacking my attack-position monster, Weevil thought. When she does, I'll have a nasty surprise waiting for her. Then, once she's out of the way, it's onto Little Yugi.

Mai drew a card. "Get ready for one serious pounding, Underpants," Mai said. "I equip Joan with a spell card called Big Bang Shot!"

"No! Now she can damage my life points even with my monster in defense mode!"

"You're pretty smart for someone with a bug-size brain. Not only does Big Bang Shot increases my monster's attack points by 400, but it can do damage to life points no matter the position."

(GAJ: 2800---3200)

"Joan, attack his Neo Bug!" Joan formed a sphere of light and shot it at the Neo Bug. "And your luck just keeps getting worse, Weevil, because every time Guardian Angel Joan destroys a monster, my life points increase by the destroyed monster's attack points.

(W: 1100)  
(M: 3000)

"Plus since it's now the only card on your side of the field, your Arsenal Bug's points are cut in half!"

(AB: 2000---1000, 2000---1000)

"But you don't come through this unharmed either, Mai. Activate trap card: Just Dessert! Now you lose 500 life points!"

(W: 1100)  
(M: 2500)

Mai took a card from her hand. "I summon The Forgiving Maiden in defense mode!" A woman wearing religious-looking robes appeared.

Name: The Forgiving Maiden  
Level: 4  
Type: Fairy/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 850  
DEF: 2000

"I also activate Spell Force."

"What does that do?" Weevil asked.

"It allows me to draw as many spell and trap cards as my opponent has cards in his hand for 1000 life points."

(W: 1100)  
(M: 1500)

"And since you have four cards in your hand, that means I can draw four spell and/or trap cards." Mai took the cards from her deck and added them to the two cards that she already had. "I equip The Forgiving Maiden with Silver Bow and Arrow and Cestus of Dagla which raises her attack and defense points." Silver Bow and Arrow raised a fairy monster's ATK and DEF by 300 while Cestus of Dagla raises only the ATK by 500 points.

(TFM: 850---1650, 2000---2300)

"I'll lay two cards face-down and end my turn."

Weevil drew a card making his hand content six cards. "I play Monster Reborn to revive Neo Bug!" His bug reappeared next to the Arsenal Bug. "I then sacrifice the two to summon Metal Armored Bug." His Metal Armored Bug looked like a metal beetle.

Name: Metal Armored Bug  
Level: 8  
Type: Insect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 2800  
DEF: 1500

"I equip it with Invigoration and Fairy Meteor Crush!"

(MAB: 2800---3200)

"Now you'll receive your punishment for siding with Yugi. Attack her Forgiving Maiden!"

"I don't think so. Reveal trap cards: Collected Power and Bypass!"

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes. Collected Power takes all the equip spell cards I have on the field and transfers them to one monster. And the monster I choose is my Guardian Angel Joan!"

The Forgiving Maiden raised her head to look at Guardian Angel Joan. The maiden held out her hands and energy flowed into the higher-level monster.

(GAJ: 3200---4000, 2000---2300)

"And Bypass lets me attack your life points directly for one half of my total life points."

(W: 1100)  
(M: 750)

Weevil let out an 'eep.'

"Joan, attack Weevil!" Guardian Angel Joan gathered energy into her hands again, but instead of throwing it at him; she flew into the air and dive-bombed him, hitting him at point-blank range. The entire street lit up in one spectacular explosion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yugi saw a flash of light behind him. I hope Mai's all right. Weevil can be brutal. I can't worry about her now; I have to get to Tea. Yugi was able to run another two miles before getting worn out from all the running. Suddenly, a familiar purple convertible pulled up beside him. "Hey Yugi, need a lift?"

"Mai, but, what happened to Weevil?"

Mai winked at him. "Let's just say he couldn't handle a woman like me"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The attack from Guardian Angel Joan left Weevil dazed on the sidewalk. People passed by him giving him one glance then continued on their merry way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minutes later, Yugi and Mai were traveling a dirt road towards Mount Fuji. "I saw you chasing after something a couple of days ago. When Joey called me and told me what was going on, I was stunned to say the least. I felt sorry for Tea and you too so I drove over to see what I could do to help."

"Well your timing couldn't have been more perfect," Yugi said. "I feel like we're racing against the clock here. Who knows what Edric is doing to her?"

"I don't think you're giving Tea enough credit," Mai said. "She's a lot stronger than you might think, plus she's hooked on you."

"She is?"

"What, you think all that cheerleading was a natural part of her personality? She's interested in you and I'm not just talking about as a friend. Don't forget, she was willing to duel me on your behalf even though she's a worst Duelist than Joey. So what about you? You're willing to do whatever it takes for her?"

Yugi nodded. "Even sacrifice my life if necessary."

"I thought you might say something like that. Get my Duel Disk from the back seat, will 'ya?"

"Sure." Yugi reached into the backseat and took out the Kaiba-Corp. Duel Disk that Mai used during Battle City.

"Take out the top card and look at it." Yugi complied. It was Mai's Harpie Lady.

"Mai, this is your Harpie Lady card."

"Yup, it's the one I was going to use against you at Duelist Kingdom had you not brought out that Black Luster Soldier. Use it."

"Thanks, Mai; I don't know how I can repay you."

"You can repay me by being there for your sweetheart. You're crazy about her and I'm positive she's crazy about you as well."

"I will."

"Can I give you another piece of advice?"

"Sure."

"I had dueled Masters at Duelist Kingdom. He seemed to rely too much on his machines than his self. You and I both know what it takes to really win a duel. Show Masters what a true Duelist duels like." Mai pulled up to a side dirt road. "This is the place."

"How can you tell?" Mai pointed to a large mansion just beyond the dirt road. "Oh. Well, thanks, Mai."

"Good luck, kid." I have a feeling you'll need it. And she drove off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edric was not unaware of Yugi's approach. He was watching Yugi approach from his security camera. Looking perturbed, he got up and went down into the Sub-Basement.

"Heads up, my dear," he told Tea. "I have something to show you." Tea raised her head and scowled at him. Edric activated a holographic view screen which showed Yugi approaching.

"It's Yugi!" Tea cried happily. "I knew he would come."

"Look closely, my dear, do you see? He's wearing his Duel Disk. Why would he bring his Duel Disk if he was just coming to rescue you? And why would he wait for four days after our previous encounter to make a rescue attempt? You see, my pretty one, he doesn't care about you at all. He's just a shallow little boy who doesn't deserve the honor given to him! And I'll prove it."

Tea made one last attempt to reason with Edric. "Edric, why are you doing this? I can understand why you would want to duel Yugi but kidnapping me, torturing Yugi, using invincible cards that could probably even take out the Egyptian God Cards? You're no better than Seto Kaiba..."

**SLAP**

"How dare you compare me to that filthy inbreed heathen!" Edric hissed. Tea was shocked both by the slap he gave her across the cheek, and by his insult to Kaiba. "My family worked hard and we were the dominant company in the field in technology productions. Then Kaiba Corp. appeared. I didn't mind so long as they limited their venues to the military. But then their new C.E.O., Seto Kaiba, started to turn Kaiba Corp. to other venues. Soon, they were producing technology that we couldn't even begin to imagine, and they were using it for games. FOR GAMES! What's worse, their company was skyrocketing to the top while we were getting sent down to the basement. I wasn't about to let a company that I worked long and hard to bring up to global status be overrun by a ragtag game company owned by a boy who isn't even a Kaiba. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Seto Kaiba had been beaten in a Duel by a virtual nobody named Yugi Moto. I thought that if some pipsqueak loser from a run-down gaming store could beat Seto Kaiba, then so could I, the head of a conglomerate unmatched by any in the world!

"So I decided to initiate a hostile takeover of the very company that threatened my power. By bribing certain people, I was able to take stock from Kaiba Corp. shareholders. After that, it was like pushing over a stack of dominos. And soon, the takeover will be completed. Perhaps if Kaiba spent more time keeping hold on his company and less time playing games, he wouldn't be so close to losing his job. When I heard that Yugi Moto defeated Seto Kaiba again at Battle City, I decided to go the extra mile and humiliate Kaiba at his own game. I even decided to produce my own version of the Duel Disk and I invented the 8000 life point rule as well. But I had to test it and the Inferno Tempest card that I was able to... 'acquire' from one of Pegasus' Eliminators just before my departure from Duelist Kingdom, to make sure it would stand up to Seto Kaiba. So what better way to test it than to defeat the boy who defeated Kaiba? For if I could defeat Yugi Moto, then Seto Kaiba would be a breeze to beat."

"So all this is just so you can be one up on Kaiba Corp.? How selfish is that? You think you should be on top and nobody else!"

"That's correct; I should be on top because I deserve it! And if I have to step on some people to do it; then I would do it again and again."

"That makes you lower than Kaiba, that makes you barbaric," Tea said. "I feel sorry for you."

**SLAP**

Now both of Tea's cheeks were red.

"Stop comparing me to him! He's nothing but a selfish, egotistical, rotten, poor excuse for a man! I am dignified and superior in every way! I am confident in my abilities."

Overconfident is more like it, Tea thought.

"Name one thing that puts that... that... scraggly orphan over me."

"He has someone to care about him."

"Caring? Humbug! Emotions like that only get in the way with progress." Edric patted his Duel Disk. "That's why technology is such a wonderful thing. Technology is not held back by petty emotions, and they serve their master willfully and get the job done. The fact that my Technological Dominance Deck defeated your 'pal' Yugi in a duel is proof of that."

"You didn't beat him, you tricked him! You all but stabbed him in the back! That's not the way real Duelists duel, they duel with honor and respect for one another! Yugi and Kaiba are rivals, but they respect each other's dueling skills and honor it by dueling fairly. And that doesn't just make them rivals, but friends as well."

"Oh please, that friendship garbage is nothing but a trick to sooth children from the harshness of reality." He walked up to her and gave her a smile that sickened her. "I bet you consider yourself Yugi's friend. Well, my dear, here is the truth, you may care about Yugi, but he doesn't care about you. If you want to compare someone to Kaiba, compare Yugi to him, because all they both care about is improving their decks and boosting their egos. And I'll prove it." Edric turned to leave.

"What are you going to do?" Tea asked rapidly.

"What am I going to do? I'm going to prove that your friendship and caring are nothing compared to the overwhelming power of my technology."

_He's going to try to hurt Yugi again_! Tea thought. _And there's nothing I can do to stop him._


	7. Highest Stakes

Yugi approached the mansion, concerned that Edric must've seen him coming yet didn't spring any traps. Why?

"_You're worried that Edric hasn't made any move against us_," Yami guessed.

"I am," Yugi confirmed.

"_He might be setting a trap for us inside the mansion_."

"We have to get in; it's the only way we're going to save Tea."

"_Then let's do it_!" The Millennium Puzzle started to glow as the two fused their souls into one. Yami-Yugi reached the front door of the mansion but the double doors opened automatically.

_I better be ready for anything_, Yami-Yugi thought as he entered the mansion. The interior was painted in dark blue with white stripes giving it a futuristic feel. A little robot on treads rolled up to Yami-Yugi.

"Welcome, Yugi Moto," it said in a digitized voice. "Please follow me; I will take you to my master." The robot led Yami-Yugi to an elevator located within the kitchen. They rode below ground. They got off in a long metallic corridor. "My master is located at the end of this corridor."

"Thank you," Yami-Yugi said and slowly walked to the other end of the hallway.

The room that Yami-Yugi emerged into was incredibly huge. The floor was black tile with orange lines running in a checkerboard pattern. Tea was mounted on a wall towards the other end of the room.

"Tea!" Yami-Yugi cried.

Tea smiled and her eyes were moist with happy tears. "Yugi, I'd just knew you would come for me."

"Hold on, I'll have you out in a minute." Yami-Yugi moved to rip the metal clamps off of her body.

"Well, Yugi Moto, I must say I'm surprised to see that you survived that fall." Yami-Yugi turned and saw Edric Masters wearing his Gamma Tech. Duel Disk. "But to tell you the truth, I'm glad you did; because if you did die, then we wouldn't be able to have a rematch."

"Listen, Masters," Yami-Yugi said practically growling. "I came here for one thing and one thing only and that's to rescue Tea. I couldn't care less about dueling you."

"Oh please, Yugi, we all know the truth, you're just a glory-hog who would do anything to make sure he moves up in the Dueling world."

"That's where you're wrong, Masters," Yami-Yugi said taking Edric by surprise. "I would gladly trade all my victories, all my titles, if it meant assuring the safety of a friend."

"Oh drop the noble hero act, Yugi, I already told Tea that she means nothing to you! And besides, why did you wait four days to come and rescue her? Even being the incompetent fool you are, it should've taken you two days to figure out where I lived and come."

"It's true, I regret that I didn't come sooner," Yami-Yugi admitted. "But losing to you, made me lose the fire in my heart. I believed that by failing at helping her, I failed being Tea's friend." Tea gasped, unaware of how guilty Yugi felt. It made her feel honored. "It took the rest of my friends... and a rival, to help me regain that fire and now that it's burning brighter than ever, I'm ready to do whatever it takes to get Tea back!"

"Yugi," Tea said happily. "I knew you cared."

Edric was rapidly losing his cool. "Fine then, if you want to free her, you'll have to duel me!"

"I already told you, Edric, I have no interest in dueling you."

"Yugi, duel him!" Tea called. Yami-Yugi looked at her with a shocked expression. "Yugi, please, duel him for me, and prove to him of the value of friendship and caring. I know you can do it, Yugi, you have the heart of the cards... and you have my heart. You've always had it, ever since we first met. And no matter what your real feelings for me may be, you'll always have my heart. So go out there, Yugi, and kick his butt!"

Yami-Yugi stared into Tea's blue eyes. And when she winked and smiled at him, he gave her a nod and a smile in return. He turned to Masters. "Fine, Masters, I accept your challenge. If I win, you promise to let Tea go free."

"Fine, but if I win, the punishment for you will be very... very severe," Masters said, his tone dropping with the final three words.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"We've broken through the last layer of defenses that Masters' network has," the female computer reported. "We have free access to his network."

Joey, Tristan, and Bakura looked around the control room in awe. "Whoa, this place is like something out of a science fiction movie," Tristan commented.

"Hey, uh... Kaiba, not for nothin', but you sure you can infiltrate Masters' computer without being noticed?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Kaiba retorted. "This is the very same computer that I used to infiltrate Pegasus' computer network. If any computer can do it, this one can."

"If I had cheeks, I would be blushing," the computer commented.

"There's nothing that my Big Brother can't do," Mokuba said proudly.

"Except maybe say thank you," Tristan whispered to Bakura.

"I heard that." Tristan winced.

"We have something," Mokuba reported. "I'm putting it on audio now."

"First thing you should do is get rid of that pansy toy Duel Disk of yours," came Edric's voice over the speakers.

"Fine," Yugi replied.

"Looks like Yugi's going through with the duel after all," Mokuba said.

"Yeah, but... what about Tea?"

"Hey wait a minute, didn't Edric just told Yugi to get rid of his Duel Disk?" Bakura asked.

"What? Then how're they going to duel?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why do you want me to get rid of my Duel Disk?" Yami-Yugi asked.

"You are in my home, Yugi Moto, so you play by my rules. And rule number one is we must duel using Gamma Tech.'s superior Duel Disks."

Yami-Yugi cast a side glance at Tea. She nodded and he nodded back. "Fine, we'll play by your rules." The little robot that met him at the door came up and this time it had another Gamma Tech. Duel Disk. Yami-Yugi ejected his deck and removed his Duel Disk. The Gamma Tech Duel Disk felt heavier than the Kaiba Corp. one.

"As you can see, two extra slots for monsters and spell and trap cards have been added. The more, the merrier, I always say. Besides, don't you think that the design has a much sleeker feel than that baby toy you normally use?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaiba slammed his fists on the control panel. "How dare he insult my designs like that! I hope Yugi beats him because if he doesn't, I'll take him on personally."

"Seto's really proud about his designs," Mokuba commented.

"Down, boy," Joey told Kaiba. "Hopefully, it won't come to that."

"Take your hand off of me, Dog Face."

Joey was about to retort but Tristan and Bakura stopped him.

"Let's duel!" Yugi and Edric shouted.

(Y: 8000)  
(E: 8000)

As they each drew six cards, Edric suggested, "I have an idea on how we should decide who goes first. We each summon one normal monster card and whichever monster's destroyed, the controller will go second. Is that acceptable?"

"It is."

"Fine, then." They each held out the card they were going to use. "I summon Guardian of the Throne Room!" A large, more mean-looking version of the robot that greeted Yami-Yugi appeared. It had missile launchers and laser arms.

Name: Guardian of the Throne Room  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1650  
DEF: 1600

"Neo, the Magic Swordsman!" Yami-Yugi's monster was human with unkempt blond hair dressed in medieval clothing and carrying a sword appeared.

Name: Neo, the Magic Swordsman  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1700  
DEF: 1000

The Guardian fired its lasers and missiles. Neo set up a forcefield to block the attack then charged. He energized his sword and thrust it into the Guardian's head. The Guardian was destroyed and Neo was able to leap to safety.

(Y: 8000)  
(E: 7950)

"Well done, Yugi. The first turn honor shall be yours."

"All right, then, I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode!" Yugi's new monster looked like a playing card picture come to life.

Name: Queen's Knight  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1600

"Queen's Knight, attack him directly!" Queen's Knight swung her sword across Edric's mid-section. To everyone's surprise, Edric's Duel Disk crackled with electricity.

"I guess... I should warn you now... that whenever we lose life points, we'll be shocked. And it goes for both of us."

(Y: 8000)  
(E: 6450)

"And I end my turn."

Edric drew a card. "I summon Mechanicalchaser in attack mode!" An orb with jet wings and multiple claws carrying multiple weapons appeared.

Name: Mechanicalchaser  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1850  
DEF: 800

"And I equip it with Machine Conversion Factory raising its attack and defense power by 300."

(MC: 1850---2150, 800---1100)

"Mechanicalchaser, attack Queen's Knight now!" Mechanicalchaser thrust its sword five times. The first four times, it missed because the Queen's Knight dodged it but the fifth time was the fatal blow.

(Y: 7350)  
(E: 6450)

"Now I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

I wonder if that face-down card was the Inferno Tempest card. I better be ready for anything. Yami-Yugi drew a card. "I switch Neo the Magic Swordsman into defense mode and play Premature Burial to bring back Queen's Knight in defense mode.

(Y: 6550)  
(E: 6450)

"I also summon King's Knight in attack mode!" The King's Knight was dressed in colorful armor like his female counterpart.

Name: King's Knight  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1600  
DEF: 1400

"And now that both King's Knight and Queen's Knight are on the field, I can special summon Jack's Knight in attack mode!" Jack's Knight had blue armor and looked like a cross between King's Knight and Queen's Knight.

Name: Jack's Knight  
Level: 5  
Type: Warrior  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 1900  
DEF: 1000

"And with that, I end my turn."

_Summoning so many monsters yet he does not attack. I bet he's thinking my face-down card is the Inferno Tempest card. Boy, will he be surprised._

Edric drew a card. "I'll sacrifice my Mechanicalchaser in order to summon Needle Burrower in defense mode." His Needle Burrower was a mechanical scorpion with blades all around it including a half-moon shape axe blade for a tail.

Name: Needle Burrower  
Level: 5  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1700  
DEF: 1700

"I also reveal my face-down card: Zero Gravity!"

"You mean your face-down card wasn't the Inferno Tempest?" Yami-Yugi asked.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Inferno Tempest card was the card Masters used to trounce Yugi last time," Joey said.

"We know that already, Wheeler," Kaiba said. "Why don't you say something useful for once?"

Joey was about to retort when a new voice came from the door. "Hey, hope nobody minds, but I let myself in." It was Mai.

"Apparently, I'm a magnet for losers," Kaiba complained.

Mai ignored Kaiba's snide remark. "The old man at the Game Store said I could find you all here. So, what did I miss?"

"Well, the duel just started," Joey said. "Yugi has four monsters on the field while Edric only has one. But Edric just played... uh... hey Mokuba, what does Zero Gravity do?"

"It switches the battle position of all the monsters on the field," Mai said before Mokuba could answer.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mai's assessment was correct. Neo and Queen's Knight were changed to attack mode while King and Jack Knight were switched to defense mode.

"Needle Burrower, attack Jack's Knight with Spike Shot!" The blades fired from Needle Burrower's body destroying the level 5 knight. "When Needle Burrower destroys a monster, an amount of life points equal to the destroyed monster's level times 500 points is removed. Jack's Knight was a level 5 monster which means you lose 2500 life points."

(Y: 4050)  
(E: 6450)

_I can't allow that Needle Burrower's effect to happen again. But how do I defeat it_? _Jack's Knight was the only monster capable of destroying it and now he's gone. I have to keep him from attacking, at least for a little while._ Yami-Yugi drew a card and breathed a sigh of relief. _All right, this spell card has never let me down before. And I have a feeling it won't let me down here either._ "I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

Edric grunted as three golden swords surrounded him and his monster. "You won yourself a brief reprieve, Yugi Moto, but remember, your swords only last for three turn."

"That's all I need," Yami-Yugi said. "I switch Neo and Queen's Knight back into defense mode." The two monsters genuflected again. "I also set one card face-down and end my turn."

The next card that Edric drew was Snatch Steal, a spell card. If it had been the Inferno Tempest, all of Yugi's monsters would be removed from the game. But then again, he still would have had those remaining Knights and that Magic Swordsman plus whatever monsters he still had in his hand. _He still has enough power to defeat me. I need to set up a defense_ "I summon Robotic Knight in defense mode."

Name: Robotic Knight  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Fire  
ATK: 1600  
DEF: 1800

"I activate my trap card: Solemn Wishes! You'll find that getting rid of me is not as easy. Now I can increase my life points to keep up with yours."

"What rotten luck. Very well then, I end my turn."

Yami-Yugi looked at his hand. He had only three cards: Earthquake, Dark Blade, and Curse of Dragon. He drew a card.

(Y: 4550)  
(E: 6450)

"I play Pot of Greed which allows me to draw 2 cards." Yami-Yugi's life points went up by another 1000, 500 points for every card drawn.

(Y: 5550)  
(E: 6450)

The cards Yami-Yugi drew were Gaia, the Fierce Knight, and Axe of Despair. He played them in a combo. "I sacrifice my two remaining Knights so I can summon Gaia, the Fierce Knight!" A red and blue armored man on a purple horse and carrying two large lances appeared in defense mode.

Name: Gaia, the Fierce Knight  
Level: 7  
Type: Warrior  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 2300  
DEF: 2100

"And I equip him with the Axe of Despair, raising his attack power by 1000!" Gaia sheathed his lances into holsters on his horse as the axe appeared in his hand.

(GtFK: 2300---3300)

"I also play Earthquake!"

"You wouldn't!"

"Watch me."

_Wow, Yugi looks so sure... but it's not cockiness, his eyes don't show it. Maybe he reorganized his deck to counter Edric's. I've never seen him use that Magic Swordsman or that Solemn Wishes card before. I wonder what other cards he has._

Edric was thinking along the same lines as Tea, but on a more sinister level. "You think you're so confident," Edric sneered. "But I'll prove that you are nothing and I am everything!"

"You're the one who's acting confident," Yami-Yugi countered.

"_Hey Yami_," Yugi called. "_Maybe we should be careful with using up all our cards. Don't forget, somewhere in Edric's deck is his Inferno Tempest card if he hasn't drew it already."_

_"You're right, Yugi. Also, a Duelist can lose if he has no more cards in his deck. We should use the cards we already have on the field for now and restock our hand. We should try to see if we can draw a card that can counter the Inferno Tempest card. It may be powerful, but it's also only a spell card and I do have cards that can stop spell cards."_

Yami and Yugi returned their attention to the duel. "Let's see, where was I? Oh yeah, I was playing Earthquake. Earthquake behaves like your Zero Gravity card changing the battle position of all face-up monsters on the field like your Needle Burrower." All of the monsters were changed into attack position. "Now, everything is set. Gaia, attack Needle Burrower now!" Gaia charged towards Needle Burrower. As he passed the machine, he swung his axe, cleaving it in two.

(Y: 5550)  
(E: 4850)

"And with that, I end my turn."

While those Swords of Revealing Light are out, I can't attack his monsters. But maybe I can get past them. "Yugi, get ready to feel pain unlike any pain you have ever felt. First, I summon Roboyarou to the field." A blue armored robot appeared.

Name: Roboyarou  
Level: 3  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 900  
DEF: 450

"Next I activate Mass Driver."

"Mass Driver?" Yami-Yugi asked as a large metal cannon appeared.

"That's correct. Mass Driver lets me turn one of my own monsters into cannon fodder, which I can then fire directly at my opponent causing 400 points of direct damage." Roboyarou leaped into the cannon and a blue flash of light was fired at Yami-Yugi. Yami-Yugi held his Duel Disk up and the blast struck it. Yami-Yugi gritted his teeth as he was shocked, more painfully than it was last time.

(Y: 5150)  
(E: 4850)

"And in case you didn't get the message the first time, I'll sacrifice my Robotic Knight as well." This time, a red-orange shaft of energy was fired directly at Yami-Yugi.

(Y: 4750)  
(E: 4850)

"Once again, technology proves triumphant over all," Garrick declared. "I set one card face-down and end my turn."

_I better be careful, Edric must have the Inferno Tempest card either face-down on the field or in his hand_. Yami-Yugi drew the Shift trap card.

(Y: 5250)  
(E: 4850)

Not what I was hoping for but it could be helpful. "I'll also set a card face-down and I'll end my turn there."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's Yugi doing?" Joey asked. "He should've attacked."

"For once, I agree with Wheeler," Kaiba said. "Yugi should've attacked with his super Gaia."

"He must be worried about the Inferno Tempest card," Bakura figured. "Yugi told us that the Inferno Tempest card was instrumental in defeating him. He probably figures that he has it in his hand."

"Kaiba," the computer called. "I'm able to finally gather enough data to project a virtual display of the dueling field." The cards that each player had on the field were displayed on a seven by four grid set vertically in the center of the screen. Towards the bottom were how many life points they had.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's my turn and your Swords of Revealing Light are gone now." The swords disappeared. "Which means that I can attack you now." Edric drew a card. "And here it comes. First, I summon Cyber Raider in attack mode." Another blue-armored machine but this one more flashy-looking appeared.

Name: Cyber Raider  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1000

"And next, I'll activate Cyber Raider's special ability to steal an Equip Spell card from you. And I choose your Axe of Despair." Cyber Raider fired a mechanical tentacle which grabbed the axe from Gaia's hand. As Gaia's attack power went down, Cyber Raider's went up.

(GtFK: 3300---2300)  
(CR: 1400---2400)

"Cyber Raider, use Axe of Despair on Gaia!" With a fierce kick, Gaia's horse was knocked down and Gaia thrown from his saddle. Gaia pulled himself onto one knee just in time to see Cyber Raider swing the axe down on his head.

(Y: 5150)  
(E: 4850)

"But I'm not done with you yet. I also choose to sacrifice my Cyber Raider to inflict 400 points of Direct Damage towards you!" Cyber Raider inserted himself into the cannon and fired directly at Yami-Yugi.

(Y: 4750)  
(E: 4850)

"How can you keep sending your monsters to the slaughter like that?" Yami-Yugi asked, gasping for breath in the wake of the electric shock. "Have you no respect for them?"

"You talk as if they're real monsters and not playing cards, Yugi. I think you're too sentimental for your own good."

"Well I don't think you're sentimental enough," Yami-Yugi said drawing a card.

(Y: 5250)  
(E: 4850)

_I can't have him keep direct attacking me like this; I need to get rid of his Mass Driver_. The card he drew was Dust Tornado. _And this card would do it, but what if he chooses to bring out his Inferno Tempest card_? _I wouldn't have any defense against it. Wait... Neo_! _I forgot he's still on the field. Perhaps I can have him attack Edric directly._ Yami-Yugi looked at his Magic Swordsman who nodded his head as if he wanted to be sent into battle. "Fine, then. I switch Neo, the Magic Swordsman, into attack mode!" Neo stood up. "Then, I'll have him attack you directly!" Neo sliced through Edric causing him to convulse in shock.

(Y: 5250)  
(E: 3150)

"This is where your lucky streak ends, Yugi Moto." Edric drew a card. "Just like you, I'll play Pot of Greed." Edric drew two cards. "I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

This is great, Yami-Yugi thought. If I keep attacking him directly like this, I'll win in no time. I'll have to act quickly though, before he can play that Inferno Tempest card. Yami-Yugi drew a card.

(Y: 5750)  
(E: 3150)

"Neo, attack him directly again!"

"Not this time," Edric cried. "Reveal trap card: Draining Shield! Now, it's my life points that are increasing.

(Y: 5750)  
(E: 4850)

Oh no, that Draining Shield increased Edric's life points by Neo's attack points. And because I didn't summon a monster during my first Main Phase, I can't attack him again. "I end my turn."

"Then I'll begin mine." Edric drew his card and smiled. "I summon Robolady!" A pink armored companion to Roboyarou appeared.

Name: Robolady  
Level: 3  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 450  
DEF: 900

"And that'll do it for me."

"Fine, then I'll go." Yami-Yugi drew a card.

(Y: 6250)  
(E: 4850)

"Neo, attack Robolady!"

"Do you like falling into traps, Yugi Moto? You seem to have fallen for them ever since we first met. Like this one for example: Reveal: Mechaguardian!"

"Mechaguardian?"

"Must I repeat myself? I'm an expert in technology-related cards and something like this is right up my alley. For only 50 life points, I can have a Mechaguardian deflect an attack at a machine monster from a non-machine monster."

(Y: 6250)  
(E: 4800)

A robot carrying a riot shield appeared in front of Robolady and blocked Neo's sword. It then disappeared again.

"Done? Because it's my move now." Edric drew a card. "First, I equip Robolady with an equip card called Megamorph. It doubles her attack power."

(RL: 450---900)

"Next, I activate Secret Pass to the Treasure which allows my machine to attack your life points directly!" Robolady jumped over Neo and attacked Yami-Yugi.

(Y: 5350)  
(E: 4800)

"Now, I'll activate my Mass Driver again." Robolady disappeared into the cannon and was fired at Yami-Yugi.

(Y: 4950)  
(E: 4800)

"Why don't you give-up now, you might save Tea a whole lot of misery. For you see, by dueling me, you're risking her life as well. That's right, if you lose, you'll not only lose the pride and honor you Duelists love so much, but the person you cherish so much will lose her life! That's the severe risks I was talking about!"

This only makes it more vital for me to win, Yami-Yugi thought. If I don't, Tea could die! And... if I'm reading Masters right... so will I!

"It's your move."

Yami-Yugi started his turn.

(Y: 5450)  
(E: 4800)

"He now had six cards and they were just the cards he needed. "I activate the Spell Card Heavy Storm to destroy every spell and trap cards on the field." A huge gust of wind destroyed the Mass Driver and Solemn Wishes card. "Next, I'll sacrifice my Magic Swordsman so I can summon Dark Magician Girl! And I equip her with the Book of Secret Arts raising her attack points by 300!"

(DMG: 2000---2300)

"Next I'll activate Morale Boost which raises her attack points by another 1000."

(DMG: 2300---3300)

"Dark Magician Girl, attack with Burning Magic attack!"

Edric just smiled.

(RL: 900---1900)

(Y: 5450)  
(E: 3400)

As the attack subsided, Yami-Yugi and the Dark Magician Girl both noticed that Robolady was still standing. "What, how is that possible?"

"Mechaguardian."

"But I destroyed that card with Heavy Storm!"

"So you did, but whenever Mechaguardian is destroyed by a spell or trap card, it allows the machine monster it protects to remain on the field for one turn. However, damage calculation is still applied. And before you say so, the reason my life points only went down a little bit is because Morale Boost works for both sides of the field."

Yami-Yugi cursed.

"My turn again." He drew a card. "I'll play the spell card Cyber Disposal Unit. You must discard one trap card from your hand." Yami-Yugi placed the Dust Tornado card in his graveyard. "Next, I'll play Snatch Steal which I'll use on your Dark Magician Girl." The Dark Magician Girl's eyes closed and she floated over to the other side of the field, her head down, in a trance.

"No, you can't!"

"The spell card says I can. But don't worry; I won't have her attack you... this time. Instead, I think I'll sacrifice her along with my Robolady to summon Launcher Spider!" A large mechanized spider with two huge rocket launchers on its back appeared.

Name: Launcher Spider  
Level: 7  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Fire  
ATK: 2200  
DEF: 2500

Yami-Yugi was still trying to accept the fact that he took control of Dark Magician Girl just like that. So he was unprepared for the intense shock. It threw him to the floor.

(Y: 3250)  
(E: 3400)

"Yugi, get up!" Tea shouted.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the control room, most of the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least Tea's safe," Mokuba said speaking for them all.

Yes, but for how long? Kaiba questioned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's wrong, Yugi Moto? Are you tired? You must be tired of having monsters turn on you. First your Black Luster Soldier and now your Dark Magician Girl. If you had a machine card like me, then there's a lesser chance for cards like Snatch Steal to work but because you rely on your weak, foolish, emotional organic monsters, my superior technology will dominate you."

"Now while I still have life points," Yami-Yugi said struggling to draw a card. "I play Even Ground. By discarding my remaining two cards, I can bring both of our life points to half of what we started with."

(Y: 4000)  
(E: 4000)

They both were panting. Each direct attack felt like a real attack for both of them. "I... I'll tell you what..." Edric turned off his Duel Disk. "I'll give you a five minute break to say good-bye to your 'friend.'" The way he said it was like saying a disgusting word. He turned and left.

I guess he was in just as much pain as I was, Yugi figured as he returned to normal.


	8. When We First Met

Once in the safety of a sitting room, Edric removed his Duel Disk, keeping the Launcher Spider card on it. He removed a can of soda and drank it as he plotted.

_Yugi Moto is a much better Duelist than I thought. I'm beginning to see how he was able to defeat experts like Maxamillion Pegasus and Seto Kaiba_. Edric cast a side glance at a vault. _I might have to use it, but should I_? _It's really strong... yes, I'll use it_! _The ultimate tribute to the glorious unstoppable power that are machines_. Edric opened the vault. Inside were two Duel Monster cards. He slipped it into his deck.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Kaiba's control room, Joey sank into a chair. "Man, I'm exhausted and I'm not even dueling."

"Just imagine how Yugi must be feeling, especially after being shocked all those times." Mai took a seat beside him.

"Wow," Mokuba said looking at his watch. "This duel has been going on for about ten minutes."

"Eight minutes and forty-five seconds to be exact," the computer reported.

"This is why I set the Battle City life points at 4000, so that the duels would go by much quicker."

"Hey, I just realized something," Tristan said. "The duel's technically half-over and Masters hadn't played that Inferno Tempest card yet."

"Maybe he just hadn't drawn it yet," Mokuba said.

"I wish we knew more about this card," Bakura said. That way, we can all prepare a countermeasure if we ever go up against Masters."

"Maybe we can," Mokuba said turning to a side monitor. "Computer, hack into the Industrial Illusions mainframe and search for anything matching 'Inferno Tempest.'"

"I'm searching, I'm searching," the computer said. "Hello, I found something." Everybody except Kaiba huddled around the side monitor. "When Maxamillion Pegasus was designing the Duel Monsters card game, he created one card the experts all agree was too powerful to put into circulation. Originally, this was thought to be Toon World, but further research now reveals that the card they were talking about was the Inferno Tempest card."

"So how does it work?"

"When the controller of the card receives more than 3000 points of damage, the card's effect comes into play removing all the cards in both players' decks and graveyards."

"Geez, no wonder Yugi was so devastated. He considers his cards like his family so removing his cards from the game was like sending a family member to their death."

"Yugi will just have to accept the fact that sometimes, things don't go his way. He may treat those cards like family, but even family will turn on you eventually."

"You know, not all families are like yours, Kaiba," Joey said dryly.

"This must be why the duel's been going on for so long," Mokuba said. "Yugi doesn't want to give him the opportunity to use it."

"You know, if it's tough for us in the stands, just imagine how tough it is for Yugi," Tristan said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oww, oww, OWW! Yugi, your knuckles are digging into my rib cage!" Yugi let go of the metal bar surrounding Tea's waist and fell to the ground.

"Sorry, Tea, I thought I could get you out but as usual I guess I wasn't strong enough."

"Don't be sorry. I think Masters has a remote control to it. That'll open it up."

"This is always the case, isn't it," Yugi said crossing his legs Indian-style. "Me not being able to do the saving."

"Hey, if it wasn't for that, we wouldn't have met, remember?" Yugi nodded. "You know, I still have it."

"But that was seven years ago!"

Tea smiled. "It never really went away. Besides, I don't really mind. I wanted a memento of when we first met..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(7 years ago)

Yugi Moto had just moved in with his Grandpa was now starting school at Domino Elementary. He was nervous because he will not know anyone there. He always had trouble making friends simply because he didn't know how to deal with people. People were so different; it was hard to adjust to each person.

The sidewalk was crowded with people and Yugi was shoved almost to the edge of the street. It was like nobody even noticed him. Suddenly a tall boy with brown hair in a blue jacket and pants ran by, pushing Yugi to the corner. The boy turned and called back, "Yo, Joe, hurry it up, slow poke!"

"All right, keep your shorts on." 'Joe' was another tall boy with shaggy blond hair also in a blue jacket and pants. "Hey, small fry, move it or lose it!" Yugi realized too late that they were talking to him. 'Joe' was running so fast that he couldn't stop. He plowed into Yugi sending him into the street. Without even apologizing, 'Joe' ran to catch up with his friend.

"Oww," Yugi moaned, rubbing his sore bottom. "Some morning," he said to himself sarcastically.

"Hey kid, watch it!" Somebody yelled. Yugi opened his eyes and saw that a car was coming towards him. He screamed.

Somebody tackled him, using the momentum to throw both of them onto the sidewalk. Yugi and his mysterious tackler rolled and rolled. Finally, Yugi felt pavement on his back.

"What's the big idea?" A different voice from the first one called out. "You crazy, just jumping out in front like that?"

"I could ask you the same thing," the voice who told him to 'watch it' asked back telling Yugi that it wasn't him he or she was talking to. "You almost could've hit a kid!"

"That kid wasn't in my view, I couldn't have known."

"Yeah, whatever, just get out of here before I have you arrested for reckless driving."

"Crap, I can't afford to get arrested again. Fine, fine." Yugi heard a door slam and a car zooming off.

"Hey... hey kid, are you all right?" Yugi finally found the strength (or maybe it was the courage) to open his eyes. At first, all he could see was a bright light, and then his eyes came into focus. Somebody was standing over him. It was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. Yugi pulled himself into a sitting position. The girl was dressed in a school uniform. "Hi," she greeted cheerfully. "Glad to see you're all right."

"Uh... hi," Yugi greeted. "Um... thank you for rescuing me."

"No problem. I saw you get shoved out into the street. I would've hated myself for not trying something. My name's Tea Gardner. What's your name?"

"I'm Yugi Moto, I just moved in with my Grandpa and I'm new here."

"Pleased to meet you, Yugi. Say, would you mind walking to school with me? It really is no fun walking to school alone and if you're with another person, there's less of a chance of you getting knocked into the street again."

"Okay." Tea held out her hand to help Yugi up but suddenly winced and held her shoulder in pain.

"Tea, what's wrong?" Yugi asked.

"My... my shoulder..."

"You must've hurt it when you threw the both of us to the sidewalk. Can I help you to a nurse?"

Tea looked at Yugi and smiled. "Thank you."

"It's the least I can do."

An hour later, Tea was sitting in the Nurse's office as she bandaged Tea's shoulder. "It's not serious, Tea. Don't move it around a lot and you should be better within a week. There might be a little bit of scarring though."

"Thank you," Tea said slipping her arm back into her shirt. As Tea was exiting the Nurse's office, she ran into Yugi.

"Tea, um... I came to see how your shoulder is."

"Its fine, Yugi, thanks."

"I'm sorry, you got that hurt rescuing me."

"It's not your fault, Yugi. Sometimes, things just happen. At least nobody got seriously hurt. Tell you what, how about from now on, you and I walk to school together. That way, we can look out for each other."

"You mean like friends?"

"Yeah, like friends. Just between you and me, I don't have too many friends either so I would welcome the company. So what do you say, Yugi, you want to be my friend?"

"Yeah! Um... do... do you want to be my friend?"

"I was hoping you would ask." Tea's good arm was held out and Yugi shook it. "Then here's to the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

And that was how it started. It seemed like Yugi and Tea were inseparable. They told each other everything, and they were never prejudicial against each other. One time, Yugi took Tea to his locker to retrieve something.

"It's a precious treasure, at least it is for me," Yugi explained. He took out a gold-colored box covered in strange pictographs. He opened up the box to reveal gold-colored metal pieces of different sizes and shapes.

"Wow, it's pretty," Tea said.

"Yeah," Yugi said although he wasn't exactly referring to the pieces. He quickly brought his mind back to the subject. "It's something I got from my Grandpa. He calls it the Millennium Puzzle. He got it during a dig in Egypt."

"So your Grandfather's an archaeologist?"

"No, he's a game store owner. He just dabbles in Egyptology on the side."

"So what's so special about this puzzle?" Tea asked.

"Well, according to my Grandfather, it's said that whoever solves its mystery will get their heart's desire."

"Wow, that would be so cool! So what's your heart's desire, Yugi?"

Yugi's cheeks showed a hint of red. "I... I'd rather not say. You know that you can't tell anybody what you wish for otherwise it won't come true."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Tea decided not to press him for any more information.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You've been nice to me from day one," Yugi said recalling their first meeting. "You've always stuck up for me. I was looking for a way to pay you back for that time."

"I say you paid it in full several times, Yugi. Now being one of them."

"Tea, I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop Edric from kidnapping you."

"That's in the past, Yugi. What matters now is that you're here and you're dueling for my freedom. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"All right, peons," Edric said emerging from his private chambers. "Break time is over. Prepare to say your good-byes."

"The only one we're saying good-bye to is you, Masters," Yugi said as his Millennium Puzzle started to glow.

The Millennium Puzzle flashing was not lost on Edric. _What's that thing around his neck_? _Probably nothing of importance_. "Now, let's see, where were we? Oh yes, we both had 4000 life points and I had my Launcher Spider in attack mode." The dueling field was set up just as it was five minutes ago. "And it was my turn." He drew a card.

_Yugi, I know you can do it_, Tea thought. _Just always remember that you're not in this alone. I'm behind you and I'm sure Joey, Tristan, and Bakura are too. You can defeat this techno terror and prove that there is nothing more powerful than the human spirit._


	9. Yugi vs The Dark Magician Girl

"I play Energy Charge." He placed the card in his spell card slot. "As long as this spell card is out, neither Duelist can attack or do any summoning or setting until they both have five cards. So for the mean time, I'll switch my Launcher Spider to defense mode."

It was now Yami-Yugi's turn. He drew a card. It was Big Shield Gardna. But he couldn't summon it so he just held onto it for now.

Edric drew his first card. He looked at Yami-Yugi and smirked. "Are you scared, Yugi Moto? Well you should be. You know I have the Inferno Tempest card somewhere in my deck. And once you attack, I'll trigger it and you'll be all out of luck."

"You should read the text of your own cards, Masters," Yami-Yugi said drawing his second card. "The Inferno Tempest card only works if you receive 3000 points of damage. And right now, all the attacks I've been giving you are less than 3000."

"Yes, so you have." Edric drew his second card. "But I still have yet to bring out my most powerful machine cards."

Yami-Yugi drew his third card. "I've dealt with a machine deck before, Masters; I know how to counter it."

Edric drew his third card. "Oh do you? Well let me just assure you that you've never faced a machine deck like mine."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huh? Did the screen just freeze or something?" Joey asked.

"They can't make a move until they both have five cards, idiot," Kaiba said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yami-Yugi drew his fourth card. This card could help but until we both have five cards, I can't do anything.

Edric drew his fourth card. "Just one more draw, Yugi Moto. And then it'll be time for your demise."

"We'll see," Yami-Yugi said as he drew his fifth card. Edric did likewise.

"Now that we have five cards, we can begin attacking. Of course as long as I have my Launcher Spider, you won't be able to do anything."

"Then I'll just have to set up a strong defense," Yami-Yugi said drawing a card. "I summon Big Shield Gardna in defense mode!" A hairy figure hiding behind a shield appeared.

Name: Big Shield Gardna  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 100  
DEF: 2600

"Fine, then," Edric said as he drew a card. "I play Autonomous Action Unit." Edric activated a spell card.

_He's trying to take control of one of my monsters_! Yami-Yugi realized. _But which one would he_? _The monster with the highest number of ATK points that was destroyed was_... "Oh no!"

"You catch on quick. Yes, in my proud tradition of taking things meaningful to you, I'll use it to take control of your Dark Magician Girl."

(Y: 4000)  
(E: 2500)

The Dark Magician Girl appeared again but this time she was dressed in a suit of robotic armor. You could hear the gears moving the armor that was moving her body. Her eyes were closed and her head bobbled.

"_Look at the Dark Magician Girl_," Yugi said to Yami. "_She looks like she's dead_."

"What did you do to her?" Yami-Yugi asked.

"Allow me to explain. Autonomous Action Unit only works on monsters that were destroyed. This card surrounds the body and controls the movements of the monster in encompasses according to the whim of the controller. As far as your Dark Magician Girl is concerned, she's still destroyed. I'm just controlling her movements like a toy robot."

"You're sick," Yami-Yugi moaned. "It's one thing to take charge of monsters that are on the field, but to take charge of them while they're in the graveyard is just despicable!"

"You're just upset that you didn't think of it. Now, before I end my turn, I play Power Boost to raise my life points. Using Autonomous Action Unit takes 1500 life points so I was sure to include life point increasing cards when I inserted Autonomous Action Unit into my deck. That Draining Shield I played a while back is just one example."

(Y: 4000)  
(E: 3500)

"I end my turn."

Yami-Yugi drew a card. _He's toying with me. He's turning my own monsters against me just to upset me. I'm sorry, Dark Magician Girl, sorry that you fell underneath the spell of a creep like Edric_. He looked at his hand. Thanks to Energy Charge, he was able to draw the Flame Manipulator that his Grandfather gave him and the Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman that Joey gave him. He also had his remaining two Magnet Warriors and Malevolent Nuzzler. The card that he drew at the start of his turn was Polymerization. _I know I'm going to have to destroy the Dark Magician Girl... but can I do it_? _Can I really destroy a monster that means so much to me_? _It would be like if I killed Joey or Tea. Edric probably knows this, that's why he did it._

"_Yugi_," Yami called. "_Right now, the Dark Magician Girl is like a zombie, neither living nor dead. If you destroy her, it won't be like killing her. It would just be returning her to the graveyard, where destroyed monsters belong.. Besides, what do you think the Dark Magician Girl would want us to do in this situation?"_

_"I understand, Yami. If the Dark Magician was in her situation, she would probably do whatever it takes to free him from Edric's control unit including killing him. It's better to be dead than be enslaved."_

Yami and Yugi re-fused their minds. _Okay, I know I have to destroy her, but how do I get a powerful monster onto the field_. He looked at his hand. _Hmmm... Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman... Flame Manipulator... swordsman... flame... that's it_! "Fine, Masters. You want me to destroy my own Dark Magician Girl, then I will."

"With what?"

"With Polymerization! I'm fusing Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman and the Flame Manipulator!"

Name: Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman  
Level: 3  
Type: Warrior  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1100  
DEF: 1100

Name: Flame Manipulator  
Level: 3  
Type: Spellcaster  
Attribute: Fire  
ATK: 900  
DEF: 1000

"What good would it do, fusing a warrior monster and a fire monster?"

"By themselves, warrior monsters are formidable, but when combined with monsters of other attributes, they are almost unstoppable! And fusing these two monsters brings forth a warrior monster that my friend Joey likes a lot... the Flame Swordsman!" The Flame Swordsman was dressed in blue and red armor and carried a large orange sword.

Name: Flame Swordsman  
Level: 5  
Type: Warrior/Fusion  
Attribute: Fire  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1600

Edric let out a harsh laugh. "Ha! Nice try, Yugi, but your Flame Swordsman only has 1800 attack points while Dark Magician Girl has 2000!"

"True, but I also choose to equip it with Malevolent Nuzzler which raises its attack power by 700!"

(F.S.: 1800---2500)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, cool, he brought out one of my monsters."

"Plus he used the Flame Manipulator card his Grandpa gave him," Tristan added.

"I guess even you have your occasional uses, Wheeler!"

"Hey!"

"I thought that the Flame Swordsman was a normal monster card," Mokuba said.

"There were two versions of the monster made. One was a fusion monster, the other was a normal monster," his brother explained.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Flame Swordsman, flaming sword of battle! Attack Dark Magician Girl!"

"Dark Magician Girl, attack your former master! I'll show Yugi that technology is the most powerful force to ever exist!"

The Autonomous Action Unit raised the Dark Magician Girl's arm with the staff in it and aimed it at the Flame Swordsman. A beam of pink energy fired at the Flame Swordsman.

"No!" Yami-Yugi cried. The Flame Swordsman's sword became energized with fire. He stabbed it into the ground and a wall of fire rose up blocking the attack. The Flame Swordsman lowered his flame shield and swung his sword. The Autonomous Action Unit blocked it with her staff. The Flame Swordsman kicked the Dark Magician Girl in the stomach enabling him to withdraw his sword and stab her with it. He set the Dark Magician Girl on fire. The bon fire that was once the Dark Magician Girl flew through the air and landed by Edric. Somewhere in the inferno, the Dark Magician Girl disintegrated.

(Y: 4000)  
(E: 3000)

"Dark Magician Girl, I'm sorry that I had to destroy you," Yami-Yugi mourned. "Hopefully, now, you can rest in peace, free from any sort of evil influence. And I swear on the Millennium Puzzle that I will get Edric back for making me do that."

"You're treating your monsters like they were real people instead of cards," Edric said. "This is why you are weak; you rely too much on your feeble human emotions. You're so busy being emotional that you can't organize an effective strategy."

"True, emotions can sometimes hamper a person's judgment, but when under the right influence, they can also be a source of great strength. After all, that was the secret of the Dark Magician Girl's power."

"NO! Emotions are weak and useless, just like you are."

"I don't think my Flame Swordsman agrees with you," Yami-Yugi said. The Flame Swordsman raised his sword in defiance to Edric's outburst. "Now, I believe it was your turn."

"Fine!" Edric snapped as he drew a card. "I summon Cyber Falcon in attack mode!" A metal bird appeared.

Name: Cyber Falcon  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Wind  
ATK: 1400  
DEF: 1200

"And I equip it with Follow Wind and Black Pendant."

(CF: 1400---2200, 1200---1500)

_He wants me to destroy his monster_, Yami-Yugi realized. _Because he has Black Pendant out, the moment I destroy it, I'll receive 500 points of direct damage_. Seeing Edric not making a move, he decided that it was his turn again. He drew a card. _Monster Gate. I can use this to summon any monster card but I need to sacrifice a monster to do it. Although it's going to be risky, I'm going to have to sacrifice my Big Shield Gardna._ "I activate Monster Gate by sacrificing my Big Shield Gardna. Yami-Yugi picked up cards from his deck until he found a normal monster card. "I special summon the Man-Eating Treasure Chest!" A portal opened up and the monster appeared. As its name suggested, the card Mokuba gave him looked like a treasure chest. You could even see crystals in it.

Name: Man-Eating Treasure Chest  
Level: 4  
Type: Fiend  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1600  
DEF: 1000

"All right, now my card's in play," Mokuba said proudly.

"Flame Swordsman, attack Cyber Falcon with flaming sword of battle!" The Flame Swordsman sent a spiral of flames with incinerated the Cyber Falcon.

"Thank you, Yugi, now I can inflict 500 points of direct damage to you!"

(Y: 3500)  
(E: 2700)

"Don't thank me yet, Masters. Man-Eating Treasure Chest, crystal barrage attack!" A barrage of jewel-like bullets hit Edric. He crouched for a little bit before standing again.

(Y: 3500)  
(E: 1100)

"And that ends my turn."

"I can easily destroy that video game reject," Edric said drawing a card. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

I can't attack his life points, not while he has that face-down card, Yami-Yugi thought as he started his turn. But perhaps I can increase my monster arsenal so that when the time comes, I can. "I summon Sangan in defense mode." Sangan looked like a deranged Kuriboh with three large eyes, a row of sharp teeth and large claws and feet.

Name: Sangan  
Level: 3  
Type: Fiend/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 600

"Flame Swordsman, attack his face-down card!" Flame Swordsman sent a burst of flames at the face-down card but the card revealed itself to be Cyber Grenade, a round orb with a pumpkin-like face.

Name: Cyber Grenade  
Level: 3  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1000  
DEF: 1000

Yami-Yugi covered his eyes as Sangan, Flame Swordsman, and Man-Eating Treasure Chest all exploded along with Cyber Grenade.

"I'm sure you know what comes next. We each discard our entire hand, draw 5 cards and special-summon any level 4 or lower monsters face-up attack position or face-down defense position."

_This could be a blessing in disguise_, Yami-Yugi thought. _If I can draw the right 5 cards, I can finish him in my next turn._. He drew the first two cards. To his surprise, they were Harpie Lady and Vorse Raider. "Vorse Raider and Harpie Lady in attack mode!" Vorse Raider looked like a cross-breed between a human and a horse. He carried a double-bladed axe.

Name: Vorse Raider  
Level: 4  
Type: Beast-Warrior  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1900  
DEF: 800

Harpie Lady looked like a woman but she had wings and talons like a bird.

Name: Harpie Lady  
Level: 4  
Type: Winged-Beast  
Attribute: Wind  
ATK: 1300  
DEF: 1400

The third card he drew was Card of Sanctity. He decided to save that for later. The last two cards made Yami-Yugi pause. These cards were very close to his heart because of the last time they were used and he didn't want to use them recklessly. But on the other hand, if they helped him rescue Tea, then he would have to take a chance. He looked at the monsters that Edric assembled. Amphibious Bugroth Mk. 3, D. D. Scout Plane, and one face-down monster card.

Name: Amphibious Bugroth Mk. 3  
Level: 4  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Water  
ATK: 1500  
DEF: 1300

Name: D. D. Scout Plane  
Level: 2  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 800  
DEF: 1200

"By destroying Sangan, you also allow me to retrieve one low-power monster card from my deck and add it to my hand."

"Yes, but you have to show it to me first."

Yami-Yugi chose the Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. He showed it to Edric before adding it to his hand. "Vorse Raider, attack his Bugroth!"

"I activate Screen Freeze. It's a spell card that keeps my life points from going down until the end of my next turn." Bugroth was destroyed though.

"I end my turn."

_This Yugi Moto is getting to be a bigger nuisance than I thought_, Edric said mentally. _I think it's time to put him in his place_. He drew a card. "Finally, Yugi Moto, your doom is at hand! It's time!"


	10. Rage of the Machines

"Time, time for what?"

"For you to admit that technology is vastly superior to your pitiful ideas of friendship. For you see, technology will be your downfall and your emotions are nothing but weights holding you down, keeping you from doing the job. I'm going to bring out the most powerful machine in my deck! But first... I must special summon six machine monsters of different attributes from my graveyard."

"Is that why you made your Duel Disk to take seven monsters instead of the usual five?"

"That's correct, Yugi Moto. My Earth machine will be Roboyarou." His monster appeared in the center. "Next shall be my fire machine, Robotic Knight. My wind machine is Cyber Falcon. My water machine is Amphibious Bugroth. My dark machine is my Cyber Grenade and my light machine is Guardian of the Throne Room." The monsters appeared in a straight line, all waiting for orders. Edric held his arms out. "Monsters, I now remove you from the game!"

"What?" The monsters already turned into orbs of light.

"Sacrifice your power to me, so I can activate this ritual card: Rise of the Machines!"

"_Yami, I never heard of that ritual card."_

_"Neither have I."_

A dark shadow covered the field. Five obelisk-like spires could be seen in the back. Each of the sacrificed monsters went into one of the spires with the sixth settling in the body. The monster began to take substance. It was a large gray mono-optic robot that looked much like his Steel Ogre Grotto #2, but much larger and much meaner. There were five spires on the back in a fan formation.

"Six months ago, Industrial Illusions held a contest. The winner would receive a Duel Monster card of their own design. Naturally, I won it. The result is this: Machina, the Machine God!"

Name: Machina, the Machine God  
Level: 10  
Type: Machine/Ritual/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 0  
DEF: 0

"Some all-powerful monster, it doesn't even have any power."

"Oh, but it does. Machina gains the attack power of all the monsters that I sacrificed to summon it."

Joey was busy counting attack points on his fingers.

"Don't burn yourself out," Kaiba said. "Computer, calculate Machina's attack power based on the sacrificed monsters."

"Jumping Jehosophat," the computer gasped. "It's over 8000!"

"8000! Not even Obelisk the Tormentor has that much attack power."

(M,tMG: 0---8050)

"In addition, it gains an additional 500 attack points for every machine monster that's in the graveyard. In case you lost count, that's an additional 2500 attack points!"

(M,tMG: 8050---10550)

"By the way, Yugi Moto, in case you're wondering, Machina's attack power is now over 10,000. Fortunately for you, summoning it means I can't attack this turn so I must end it."

_I must get my defenses ready_. Yami-Yugi drew a card.

"Face it, Yugi, your lousy emotions are your weakness. You can't believe that you can win playing like you do. You need to be cold, hard, strong, like a machine."

"That may work in your twisted little world, Masters, but if you think that it's a universal truth, you're sadly mistaken. I believe in my friends and in my heart. I have faith in them, and that faith, that emotion has helped me get through a great deal of trials in the past, just as they now help me through this duel."

"No! You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!" Edric was throwing a tantrum. "Emotions are weak, they're pitiful! They do nothing but get in the way of true power! Machines are the only perfection in the universe! There's no such thing as friendship, it's all A BIG LIE!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Whoa, Masters seem really bent on this whole anti-friendship crusade," Joey commented.

"Seto, do you believe that emotions are a weakness?" Mokuba asked.

"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to agree with Yugi on this. His belief in the heart of the cards has pulled him from the jaws of defeat through duel after duel. He's just had too many victories for it to be coincidence or luck. But my problem isn't with Masters' beliefs; it's his methods that he uses to achieve them that tick me off."

"Now that's the pot calling the kettle black," Tristan muttered.

"What was that?" Kaiba asked.

"Uh... nothing, nothing at all."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Friendship is not a lie, Masters," Yami-Yugi said calmly. "And I'll prove it." He looked at the cards in his hand. "I summon Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode!" The monster was dressed in blue robes and held a simple staff with an orb at the end.

Name: Skilled Dark Magician  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster/Effect  
Attribute: Dark  
ATK: 1900  
DEF: 1700

"I set one card face-down and activate Mage Power, increasing its attack power by 500!"

(SDM: 1900---2400)

A small blue orb of light appeared next to the Skilled Dark Magician.

"What's that?" Edric asked.

"It's called a spell token," Yami-Yugi answered.

"Yes, but what does it do?"

"You'll find out soon enough. In the mean time, I switch Harpie Lady and Vorse Raider to defense mode! There, now I'm ready to face your Machine God."

"Very well then, Yugi Moto, I'll let you face the Machine God." Edric drew a card. "I just drew another Machine Conversion Factory and this time, I'll use it to power up my Machina."

(M,tMG: 10550---10850)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Like that thing needs to get any more powerful," Joey said sarcastically.

_Hmmm... I can really destroy any of Yugi's monsters. But the problem is Yugi's hand. He placed his Skilled Dark Magician in attack mode so he must want me to attack. I bet he's going to activate that trap card which is probably designed to destroy my Machine God. Boy, will he be in for a surprise_. "Machina, attack Yugi's Harpie Lady!"

"You activate my trap card: Raigeki Break! Now by discarding one card from my hand..."

"Not so fast, Yugi Moto. I know that you plan on destroying Machina with that trap card so I activate Machina's special ability!"

"What!" As a lightning bolt headed straight for Machina, it set up a forcefield blocking it. "What did you do?"

"Simple, I activated one of Machina's special functions. It can block all trap cards that target it."

"One, how many special abilities does Machina have?"

"Five overall, represented by the spires you see on its back. Allow me to explain. The blue spire on my bottom right protects it from all trap cards that target it. The green spire opposite it does the same for all spell cards. The orange spire protects it from all effect monster cards. The purple spire gives it the ability to absorb machine monsters. And the red spire... the red spire is very special. But why spoil the surprise. The fact of the matter is your Harpie Lady's destroyed."

"Not yet, the card I was going to discard to activate Raigeki Break was Kuriboh. Now my life points are protected."

"I thought I told you that Machina is impervious to all effect monsters."

"Maybe effect monsters that target it, but Kuriboh's special effect targets my life points." Hundreds of little Kuribohs appeared to block Machina's attack and they were all destroyed.

"Well, looks like I have to end my turn."

Yami-Yugi drew a card and looked at it. It was Lava Battleguard. He also had Waboku and Card of Sanctity. "I sacrifice Vorse Raider so I can summon Lava Battleguard in defense mode." The Lava Battleguard looked like a red ogre carrying a club.

Name: Lava Battleguard  
Level: 5  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1550  
DEF: 1800

"I'll have my Skilled Dark Magician attack your face-down card." The face-down card was revealed to be Cyber Commander, an android carrying a large gun.

Name: Cyber Commander  
Level: 3  
Type: Machine  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 900  
DEF: 900

"Thank you. Now that Cyber Commander is in the graveyard, Machina gains an extra 500 attack points.

(M,tMG: 10850---11350)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hate it when my favorite card is used against my best bud," Tristan said furiously.

"Join the club," Kaiba said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'll place one card face-down and end my turn."

Edric drew his card and laughed maniacally. "This is it, Yugi Moto, this will be your downfall. I activate Enemy Controller!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Now he's using one of my cards! I'm going to butcher that brat if I ever come across him."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Using this, I can change the battle position of one monster card on my opponent's side of the field and I choose your Lava Battleguard!" A wire shot out of the controller that looked like an old SNES controller and connected to Lava Battleguard. The Lava Battleguard tried to resist it but it was pulled in front of Harpie Lady and Skilled Dark Magician.

"You just activated a spell card which means I can now activate Skilled Dark Magician's special ability!"

"What special ability?"

"These three spell tokens that you see aren't just here for show, Masters. They appear each time we activate a spell card. Now that there are three of them, I can sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician and my three spell tokens so I can special summon my Dark Magician!" The Dark Magician appeared ready for combat. It swung his staff and pointed it at Edric as if challenging him personally. "You should be careful, Edric, the Dark Magician is upset that you ruthlessly turned Dark Magician Girl against her friends."

"Again, with that personifying card business? How can a hologram have feelings? Besides, your Dark Magician can't attack just yet, it's still my turn. And I'm going to have my Machina attack your Lava Battleguard."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Suped up as it is, there's no way Yugi can survive the onslaught," Joey said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Machina, attack Lava Battleguard! Cyber Force!" A large shaft of energy shot out from Machina's hands.

"I activate my trap card: Waboku!" Yami-Yugi commanded. Three robed priests appeared and blocked Machina's attack.

"What, my research said that you don't have Waboku in your deck! How can you have Waboku?"

"Simple, a friend gave it to me." Yami-Yugi winked at Tea.

_Oh yeah, I forgot, I used that card to stop Mai's attack when we dueled at Duelist Kingdom_. "Go, Yugi! I know you can do it!"

"Oh shut up!" Edric snapped as he pressed a button on a remote strapped to his belt. Three walls, one with a glass window, and one with a metal door, rose up around her.

"Leave her alone!" Yami-Yugi demanded.

"Oh, did I do something wrong?" Edric asked in fake innocence. "Face it, Yugi Moto, this only proves that your emotions are a weakness, not a strength. You didn't win all those duels by caring; you just won them because fate pities misguided fools like you! Do you still not understand what I'm saying? Here, let me spell it out. You are a heartless, erroneous, vane, and overly-sentimental fool. Corrupted people like you don't deserve friends, you don't even deserve life!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe Yugi's just letting Edric pummel him verbally," Bakura said.

"He has to," Kaiba informed the others.

"But why, Seto?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yami-Yugi was thinking Seto's answer. He's trying to goad me, force me into making a mistake. I can't let him rattle me.

"Look, Yugi, look at your precious Tea." Yami-Yugi looked at her. She was looking around at her prison. "What do you think Tea is thinking right now, Yugi? Any ideas, hmmm? No idea, well, allow me to shed some light. She's probably thinking 'how could Yugi let me get captured like this? What did I do to deserve such treatment?' You can hardly blame her for asking such questions, I would ask them if I was in her situation. But my point is this: if you were really Tea's friend, you wouldn't have let her fall into this predicament. Face it, Yugi, you failed her as a friend! And the only true punishment for failure in this world is death!"

Yami-Yugi turned to face Masters. "Are you done yet, Masters, because it's my move." He drew a card. "I'll sacrifice Harpie Lady so I can summon Swamp Battleguard!" The Swamp Battleguard was a green version to the red Lava Battleguard.

Name: Swamp Battleguard  
Level: 5  
Type: Warrior/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 1800  
DEF: 1500

"With Swamp and Lava Battleguards on the field at the same time, their attack power is raised!"

(SB: 1800---2300)  
(LB: 1550---2050)

"You see, Masters, having someone to aid you can be a benefit. It definitely helps my Battleguards. I also switch my Dark Magician into defense mode and I end my turn."

Edric drew a card. "Yugi Moto, so far you have proven to be a mediocre duelist with some skill. But I'm about to show you up with Machina's final special ability!"

"I don't like the sound of that."

"If you don't like the sound of it, then you'll dislike the way it works even more. For you see, Machina's fifth special ability is something I call Organic Genocide. To be blunt, by giving up one half of my total life points, I can destroy all non-Machine monsters on the field."

(Y: 3500)  
(E: 550)

A large shaft of energy came out of Machina's eye. The Battleguards cried out in pain as they were destroyed. The Dark Magician tried to resist it but eventually, he too, was destroyed.

After shielding his eyes from the explosion, Yami-Yugi asked, "How is that any different from Raigeki?"

"Because by using that ability, it gains 200 extra attack points for each monster destroyed. That means it gains an extra 600 attack points."

(M,tMG: 11350---11950)

"However, using Organic Genocide means I can't attack so I end my turn."

_With almost 12,000 attack points, Edric can wipe me out before I can even blink. I could use Card of Sanctity, but what good will it be if I can't draw the right cards. What good is anything I do now_? _I can't use trap, spell, or effect monster cards on it. Even if I had an Egyptian God Card, I don't think it would work. My deck's getting low. I probably only have about twenty cards left. Plus he still has enough life points to use Organic Genocide again. Edric covered all the bases when he made Machina_. Yami-Yugi drew a card. It was Bakura's Enchanted Javelin. This trap card raised the controller's life points by the attacking monster's attack points. If he used it, he would survive this turn, but most likely not next turn. In addition to Card of Sanctity, he had Trap Hole and Buster Blader but it didn't look like Edric was going to summon any more monsters.and Yami-Yugi had no monsters with which to sacrifice for Buster Blader. Perhaps the time has come to throw in the towel. Yami-Yugi looked at Tea and cast an apologetic glance at her.

Tea saw it. _What's Yugi doing_? _Is he... no_! "Yugi, please, don't give up! I know you can do it. Yugi! Yugi..." a tear ran down her cheek.

Unfortunately, Yami-Yugi couldn't hear her call out. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Yugi temporarily separated himself from Yami. _Tea, I hope you forgive me. I tried my best to save you, I gave it my very all. I just hope that you realize how much I care about you... how much I love you._

It was at that moment that Tea felt something come from Yugi. Something she always knew but was afraid to admit. He loved her.

And she... she loved him.

Edric started his turn. "Yugi, not even your trap card will be able to save you from this next attack. I'm about to kill you right now!" Edric pressed a button near the life point counter on his Duel Disk. An outline formed on Machina. "I just switched on Machina's photonic charge. Now My Duel Disk is feeding Machina energy made from photons. They solidify his shape and mass. Now, even a holographic punch from him can be deadly. First, I play Meteor of Destruction!" A comet appeared and dove towards Yami-Yugi. Yami-Yugi summoned the protective powers of his Millennium Puzzle. But even using its magic, Yami-Yugi was forced back.

(Y: 2500)  
(E: 550)

"Now, for the death blow! Machina, attack with Cyber Force!" Machina's fist became energized and he launched towards Yami-Yugi.

"Reveal trap card!" Yami-Yugi commanded as he activated Enchanted Javelin. A javelin formed in his hands and Yami-Yugi tried using it to block the power. But it was overwhelming. Eventually, the javelin broke and the blast struck Yami-Yugi head on. There was a huge flash of light and the ground trembled, like the very Earth was afraid of Machina's power. If Tea hadn't been protected in that side room, she probably would've been seriously hurt at least. The glass window shattered and the metal door got knocked off its hinges.

When the dust settled, Tea risked looking. And she wished she hadn't. Because what she saw devastated her almost as much as Machina's attack. Yugi (the original Yugi) was up against the wall, not even moving.

"YUGI!"


	11. Standing United

"I've heard enough," Joey said as he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Mai asked.

"I won't just stand by while some nut case slaughters my friend. I'm going to go help him!"

"But Joey, he could... you could end up like Yugi. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

Joey took Mai's hands in his own. He gave them a reassuring squeeze. "I don't plan on biting the big one today." He then left the control room.

"Joey, wait, I'm coming with you."

"But Mai..."

"Don't argue with me, buster, I'm coming and that's that."

"I'm with Joey," Tristan said. "I mean about helping Yugi. I'm going with them."

"And so am I," Bakura volunteered.

"I'm coming too," Mokuba said stepping forward.

"Mokuba, this isn't our business."

"Yes it is," Mokuba almost snapped. "Seto, Masters is trying to take over Kaiba Corp. I'm not going to stand by and let what you and I worked so hard for come undone because some guy just wants to prove that he's better than everyone else. Please, Seto, come along to protect your company if nothing else." Kaiba hated to admit it, but Mokuba was becoming more decisive, more assertive every day, like him. He has never been more proud of his little brother.

Mokuba took an ear piece from a drawer. "Computer, relay us anything of importance that might happen."

"You can count on me."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yugi, get up!" Tea called. "Yugi, you have to get up. Yugi! YUGI!" No matter how much Tea yelled, Yugi wouldn't move.

Edric went up to Yugi's body. "So how does pain feel, Yugi Moto? This is where Duelists like you belong, on the ground like the worms you are. But don't worry, you won't be there alone. I plan to lay all vile Duelists at my feet, and make all bow down to the all-mighty power of technology!" He kicked Yugi's body so that it was totally on the floor and looked at Tea. "Did you get a good show, my dear? I guess your precious Little Yugi wasn't half the Duelist he thought he was."

"How could you... how could you do such a thing? Have you no humanity?"

"Oh I have plenty of humanity, my little peach. I did raise that barrier to protect you from Machina's assault. But selfish people like Yugi Moto don't deserve to be treated humanely." He kicked Yugi again turning him onto his back.

"You're wrong! Yugi Moto is the kindest person I've ever met!" Edric reacted with surprise. "Time and time again, Yugi put his life on the line for his family and friends! He didn't want glory, fame, or any sort of reward; he just wanted to protect the people he loves. He just wanted to do what's right. And his kindness wasn't just limited to his duels. He willingly came to see me when I hurt my shoulder just to see if I was all right. Nobody had done that for me before. I was a stranger and he showed me compassion. He didn't ask for anything in return except friendship. You see, Yugi Moto isn't a selfish Duelist at all. He's the most caring person I know. And he definitely has more humanity and compassion than you and your heartless machines!"

"Even in the off-chance that was true, the fact of the matter is I'm standing and he isn't. The game is over, I've won." Edric closed the screen muting any future protest Tea might have. He walked up and looked at the card that fell out of Yugi's Duel Disk. "Enchanted Javelin, huh? Looks like you were able to protect your life points, Yugi. Too bad you weren't able to protect yourself." Edric laughed maniacally before walking away. Tea couldn't watch any more, she closed her eyes, praying to any deity out there (except the God of Machines) that this was just a nightmare. But it wasn't, it was real. Yugi was dead.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Yugi, get up!"_ Yugi wondered who was calling him. It didn't sound like Yami, but who else would be calling out inside his head? He could hear more voices, the voices of his friends.

Joey: _"Come on, Yug!"  
_Tristan: _"You've got to get up!"  
_Bakura: _"Don't give up, not when you're so close."  
__"Get up, Yugi, show him you're a man!" _That was Kaiba of course.  
Mai: "_Tea's counting on you to rescue her."  
_Mokuba: "_We're all behind you, Yugi."  
_Yami: "_Yugi, I'm right here with you."_

_I appreciate the support_, Yugi thought. _But my body feels like lead. I don't think I could get up even if I wanted to_.

"_Pharaoh."_ Yugi opened his eyes. He was in some sort of dark tunnel. There was a figure standing at the end. But Yugi couldn't figure out if he was moving towards the figure or if the tunnel around them was moving.

_Who_...

"_You must get up, my Pharaoh. You must still finish."_

Yugi was now Yami-Yugi. _But how_? _That Machine God is practically invincible_! He was thinking it but it sounded like he was saying it out loud.

"_Thousands of years ago, you faced an invincible evil and killed him!"_

_Anubis_?

"_Yes, Anubis was powerful, so powerful that commoners thought him to be a god. You challenged him, but you weren't alone."_

_I... wasn't alone..._?

"_The other Chosen Ones, the bearers of the other Millennium Items, joined you, for they knew that if this evil won, they would all be doomed. _All around Yami-Yugi, multiple shadows appeared. There were six in all and on each of them could be seen the Millennium Item. The Millennium Eye glowed underneath the hood of one. The Millennium Rod, Key, and Scale were being held out like weapons. The Millennium Necklace and Ring were being worn by their Chosen Ones.

_"You stood united."_

Yami-Yugi saw a shadow that looked like him wearing the Millennium Puzzle and the other Chosen Ones with their Millennium Items standing around a large creature that looked like Anubis in his final form. Each of the Millennium Items glowed and a monster appeared from around them. The Millennium Rod produced the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The Millennium Eye created the Archlord Zerato, an archangel-like being. The Millennium Ring created The Dark Master – Zorc, which looked like a demon in every sense of the word. The Millennium Necklace created Wingweaver, a six-wing angel. The Millennium Scale produced Seiyaryu, a metal dragon. The Millennium Key created Skull Knight, a warrior in skeleton armor. The Millennium Puzzle that his mirror self wore produced the Dark Magician.

"_The ultimate Shadow Duel commenced and you emerged victorious." _The monsters all unleashed their powers on the dark creature. In the end, with the Chosen Ones unleashing the powers of the Millennium Items on it, the monsters were able to defeat the dark creature.

_"You never gave up back then and I know you won't give up now."_

_He... she... whoever said that is right_! _I can't give up, not after all I been through. I don't want to let my friends down_.

"_Your friends care about you more than any of them would ever admit. You must stand united as you did in ancient times. Remember the secret of the Puzzle."_

_I... remember_. Yugi was himself again and he did remember. It was when his Grandpa first gave him the Millennium Puzzle. The inscription on the bottom of the box the puzzle pieces were found in said that whoever solved the mystery would gain its hidden power. At first, Yugi thought it was simply putting it together. Then, he realized that it meant something else. According to the text, he had to figure out what the hidden power of the puzzle was or risk losing the puzzle forever. Fortunately, he figured out the answer when he realized that putting it together was the key to the answer. The hidden power of the Millennium Puzzle was: unity, uniting the pieces to achieve great power, uniting with others to achieve great strength and courage.

"_Your friends shall always be with you, as will I... my beloved."_ Yugi was finally able to get a better look at the figure. It was a woman dressed just like Ishizu Ishtar was during Battle City. But her features... except for her skin tone, hair, and eyes being darker, she looked exactly like Tea! Her last sentence echoed in Yugi's mind as Yugi found himself in a very familiar place: the inside of the Millennium Puzzle.

"Yugi," Yami called appearing besides him. "How do you feel?"

"Sore all over, but other than that, I'm fine."

"I'm glad; I would hate to think what would happen if you were destroyed like at Duelist Kingdom."

"I'm not that easy to get rid of. Besides, I can't go anywhere until we figure out the secrets of your past," Yugi reminded him as Yami helped the smaller boy up.

Yami nodded. "But right now, we have a duel to win and a friend to save."

"Yami, I think... I want to finish this duel by myself, but..."

Yami laid a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Do you really care about her that much?" Yugi nodded. "All right, I will try to hold off the pain with the Millennium Puzzle. You will finish the duel. But remember, Yugi, I'll always be with you inside here..." Yami lifted his Millennium Puzzle. "And here..." he patted his chest where the heart was.

"Thanks, Yami. We must put all our faith into the heart of the cards and all our hearts into our faith."

"Yugi... I think you're becoming a wiser person than me. Go, rescue Tea, and show Masters where the true power lies."

The two clasped hands. "Let's do it!" Yugi cried. Both Millennium Puzzles started to glow incredibly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edric was still celebrating and Tea was still mourning when a small voice said, "Is that all you got, Masters? My pal, Joey hits harder than that."

"No, it can't be!" It was true. Yugi was standing. He was panting heavily but there was a magical glow around his body as well as coming from the Millennium Puzzle. "I made that photonic attack powerful enough to kill a horse, how can you still be standing?"

"You'd be surprised at how powerful friendship is, especially when it's joined with the human spirit."

Tea was overjoyed. "Yugi... he's alive!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey guys, good news," Mokuba called. "Yugi's all right!"

"I'm not surprise," Kaiba said. "I knew it would take more than a direct attack from a ritual monster to stop him." Mai was driving towards Edric's mansion with Joey and the Kaibas in tow. Tristan and Bakura followed on Tristan's motorcycle.

"Let's just hope we can get there before Yugi and Tea really do bite the bullet," Tristan said.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What does it take to put you down for good?"

"I'll never give up, Edric, not while the people I care about are in trouble. I will keep fighting you for as long as possible, until my friends are safe and sound or until my last breath. Now, if I'm not mistaken, I still have 2500 life points left and it was my turn."

"I don't know how you survived, but I guarantee you won't survive another attack!"

"We'll see."

(Y: 2500)  
(E: 550)

Yugi drew a card. "Enough playing around, it's time to show you the driving force behind all my duels: the heart of the cards, and the heart of the Duelist! I activate Card of Sanctity." Yugi drew four cards and Edric drew two. "Masters, you're about to pay for hurting my friends. I'm going to beat you just like you beat me, by defeating your best monster."

"Not your best bluff, Yugi."

"It's not a bluff. And it all starts with this." He showed him a spell card. "Rally to the Cause!"

"What's that?"

"For all but 50 of my life points, I can special-summon any 5 monsters from my graveyard.

(Y: 50)  
(E: 550)

"And the monsters I choose are: the Dark Magician, the Swamp and Lava Battleguards, Harpie Lady, and Vorse Raider! Next, I'll use Monster Reborn to revive the Man-Eating Treasure Chest!" The monsters all appeared in front of Yugi.

"This isn't possible! How is he able to have so many different monsters? It's like I'm dueling more than just Yugi."

"That's because you ARE dueling more than just me, Edric."

"What?"

"Each of my friends have entrusted to me their favorite card. Their hearts are in the cards you see before you now. And now that we stand united, we're ready to unleash power unlike anything you have ever seen before. And speaking of standing united, I also play United We Stand in accompaniment with my Dark Magician."

"Oh no, that raises the monster's attack power by 800 points for every monster on the field!"

"Precisely, and I'll set one monster card face-down and end my turn."

Edric quickly drew a card. "I summon Steel Scorpion in attack mode!"

Name: Steel Scorpion  
Level: 1  
Type: Machine/Effect  
Attribute: Earth  
ATK: 250  
DEF: 300

I had a feeling he would make a blunder eventually.

"Steel Scorpion, attack Yugi's face-down card now!"

"Reveal: Magician of Faith!" From the card rose a purple-haired woman in purple and maroon robes carrying a staff with a moon-shaped ornament on the end. She blocked the scorpion's tail blade with her staff.

Name: Magician of Faith  
Level: 1  
Type: Spellcaster/Effect  
Attribute: Light  
ATK: 300  
DEF: 400

(Y: 50)  
(E: 400)

"Take a good look at this monster card, Edric. The heart in this card is the same as the one who's currently chained up in your dungeon!"

Tea had never felt more proud of him. Yugi had gone from a quiet kid who was the victim of bullying, to becoming a true hero.

"Magician of Faith's special ability allows me to retrieve one spell card from my Graveyard. And I choose Morale Boost. Since there are seven monsters on the field, my Dark Magician's attack power is now raised by 5600!"

(DM: 2500---8100)

"I end my turn," Edric grumbled.

Yugi drew a card. "I'll play Morale Boost which allows the attack power of my equipped monster to be increased by 1000!"

(DM: 8100---9100)  
(M,tMG: 11950---12950)

"I also place two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Hah, your trap cards won't affect me or my monsters. I'll sacrifice my Steel Scorpion to Machina so he can get more powerful!" The metal scorpion disappeared

(M,tMG: 12950---13200)

"Who said my trap cards was designed to affect your monster. In fact, whoever said it was a trap card?"

"You speak in riddles. I'll get you!" Edric drew a card and let out a holler of triumph. "I play Inferno Tempest!"

"But that card will only work if you lose 3000 or more life points."

"Oh yes, that. I guess I might activate another of Machina's abilities, the ability to play any spell card regardless of rules."

He lied about Machina having only five abilities!

"Say good-bye to your monsters!" An incredibly huge ball of fire was launched at Yugi.

"I don't think so," Yugi said as he revealed one of his face-down cards. "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon!" A small tornado broke through the fireball. The Inferno Tempest card blew up.

No, he defeated my best card! "Why you... Machina, attack with Cyber Force!"

"Reveal trap card: End Turn! Three guesses as to what it does." Edric had definitely heard of End Turn before. Just as the name suggested, End Turn fast forwards the turn that it's activated in to its end phase. If it's played during a battle phase, all attacks are void. Machina's attack fizzled out. "Now it's my turn." Yugi drew a card. "Yes, this is what I've been waiting for. I play..."

"Just hold it right there, Yugi Moto!" Edric cried. "You're standing on a time bomb!"

Yugi and Tea gasped at that.


	12. Countdown

"Seto," Mokuba called out. "We have serious trouble. According to the computer, Edric just revealed that there's a bomb underneath the mansion!"

"A bomb?" Kaiba, who was trying to pick the lock on Edric's door, asked. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"We need to get in there now!" Tristan declared lowering the visor on his helmet. "Everybody stand back." He popped a wheelie and with an incredible burst of speed, drove his motorcycle right into the doors with such incredible force that he broke them down. "I always wanted to do that, everyone inside now. Kaiba, can your computer detect where in the mansion they're dueling?"

"It's not that specific," Mokuba said speaking for his brother.

"Well if I was a snake-computer nerd like Masters, I'd do all my dueling in the basement," Joey said. Tristan got off his motorcycle and walked it into the mansion. The group arrived at the spacious kitchen.

"Let's split up and look for anything leading down," Bakura suggested. Everyone searched through the ground floor.

"Man, that Edric guy lives in pretty swanky place," Joey commented peeking inside a library.

"Let's just hope Yugi can keep him from activating that bomb before we find Tea," Tristan said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"A time bomb, are you serious?"

"Dead serious, if you'll pardon the accidental pun. The foundation of this very house is built on a super-explosive time bomb, and the trigger is tied directly into my life point counter. Thirty seconds after my life point counter reaches 0, my bomb will explode taking everything within this house!"

"But you'll be destroyed too!" Yugi argued.

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. You see, Yugi Moto, if I can't win, then nobody wins. It was how I was going to finish off Seto Kaiba after I take over his company but I guess I'll just have to settle for finishing you off."

"You want to take over Kaiba Corp.?"

"Oh, didn't your little girlfriend tell you? I needed to test my cards and new Duel Disk out on someone, who better than the champion of Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. And just like you, Kaiba will eventually fall at my feet and there's nothing you or he or anyone can do about it."

"Edric, stop hiding behind your tricks and finish this duel with what little dignity you have left!"

"Oh please, you don't fight with dignity so why should I?"

_Edric's totally caught up in his own fantasy world_, Yugi realized. _Trying to convince him to fight fair will be tougher than trying to convince Kaiba to trust the heart of the cards_. A sharp pain erupted from Yugi's back. The glow around his body dimmed for a second. _Yami must be losing strength; he can't hold back the pain much longer. If I attack, he'll blow that bomb taking me and Tea with it. But if I don't attack, he wins the duel anyway and who knows what he'll do to Tea. I can't win either way_!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Guys, come quickly, I found something!" Bakura shouted. The others saw Bakura standing by a doorway that looked like it was built into the wall.

"A secret passageway, you think there's something he doesn't want us to see?"

"There's only one way to find out," Kaiba said. "Let's go."

"Bakura and I will stay up here and guard our escape route," Tristan volunteered.

"All right, let's go, guys." Joey, Kaiba, Mokuba, and Mai all descended into the passageway. The four passed by Edric's waiting room and continued until they came to a metal door.

"Dead end, any ideas?" Joey asked.

"You seem to be the one with the ideas," Kaiba pointed out.

"All right, give me a minute, I'm thinking."

"That bomb could blow by the time you're done thinking."

Mai noticed that Mokuba was sliding his hand along the wall. "Mokuba, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find a circuit breaker. A techno geek like Edric must have tons of them in a place like this..." Mokuba ripped open a panel and found one. "Jackpot!" Mokuba took out a rather bulky-looking control device. "Okay, I'm tapping into the main power now."

"Wait a second, for all we know, we could be walking into a trap."

"I'll be able to cut power for a couple of seconds. Any longer and the backup system might kick in. Try to stake out the place as much as you can." The three older people nodded. "Okay, I'm cutting power... now." The lights went dim. Red emergency lights clicked on. Joey and Kaiba slid the door to the side.

It was a little bit lighter inside the dueling arena, because the Holographic emitter lights were displaying all kinds of monsters.

Because he had a better view point than Edric, Yugi immediately saw the two heads peeking through the door. It was Joey and Kaiba. Yugi had to let them know where Tea was.

"I don't know what your game is, Edric, with turning off the lights like this, but I promise that I won't let you succeed. I'll free Tea from that prison you set her in or die trying!" For added emphasis, he pointed to the prison that Tea was in.

"Then I guess you'll just have to die then, Yugi."

"I'm going to switch back on the power now," Mokuba whispered. Kaiba and Joey ducked their heads out of the room as Mokuba restored the power.

Yugi was struggling against the pain. Yami couldn't hold it back much longer. Eventually, the pain would overwhelm the both of them. But because it was Yugi who's in the body right now, he would feel the blunt of it. He hoped that the others could rescue Tea while he kept Edric distracted.

"So, any ideas?" Joey asked again.

"I have one," Mokuba said. "I can shut off the power enough to get two of you into the room where he's holding Tea. But you'll have to be quick about it. I think Edric's security system is onto me. It might override my control any minute. So which two will it be?"

"I'd say Joey and Kaiba, they're the fastest of us."

"Okay. Seto, Joey, are you two ready?" The two nodded. "Okay, I'm shutting the power off... now."

"What the heck?" Edric asked as the lights went out again. "Something's not right."

"Afraid of the dark, Masters?"

"You, you must be doing this! Tell me how you're cutting my power."

"In all honesty, Edric, I have no idea what's happening to your power."

"You lie! Tell me what you're doing now!"

"I'm doing nothing." Yugi could hear the pitter-patter of feet.

Joey and Kaiba moved aside the broken door and snuck into Tea's cell.

Since it was pitch black, Tea couldn't see who entered her prison. "Who's there?" She whispered.

"Be quiet, will 'ya, Tea?"

"Joey, is that you?"

"None other; hold on, I'll get you out of here."

"Forget it; I think these bonds are magnetically sealed."

"Electronically sealed is more likely," Kaiba said. "They must be on a battery, that's why Tea wasn't free when Mokuba first cut the power."

"Kaiba, you're here too?"

"You're complaining?"

"Not in the least." Kaiba took off his communication pin and ran his hand along a wire at the bottom. He stabbed the pin into the wire. There was a hiss as Tea's bonds opened and dropped her unceremoniously on the floor.

Yugi and Edric could hear the thump. Yugi had to keep talking to distract Edric. "It's not too late, Edric. We can still put all this behind us and start over as friends." Edric snickered. "I know how you feel, believe me. I used to believe the same as you do, but someone gave me the chance and now I have lots of friends. It can be the same for you. I'm giving you a chance, will you take it?"

"You're giving me a chance? Hah! You missed your calling, Yugi Moto, you should've been a comedian. Since you probably didn't hear me the first couple of times, I'll tell you again. Friendship is just an excuse the weak use to give their miserable lives meaning. I have found my purpose in life all by myself, without any help. And do you know what that purpose is, Yugi? That purpose is to lead the world in technology development, to snuff out patchwork monstrosities like Kaiba-Corp, and to make poor naïve Duelists like you bow down to me and the wonder of technology. Do you know what I and Machina have in common, Yugi?"

"You both have big heads?"

"Funny, but wrong, we are both gods of machines!"

_Edric has totally lost it_, Yugi thought. _His delusions of grandeur are worse than Kaiba's. This is all about him trying to make everyone else bow down to him. But that never works out. It didn't work for Marik, for Gozaburo, for Noah, for the Big 5, for Anubis, or any of the other enemies that I have faced over the years. Forcing others to do what you want them to do only proves how much of a bully one is. But Edric doesn't believe that, he wants to take over Kaiba-Corp. and beat down all Duelists that he thinks are evil, which are all Duelists knowing him. But things are never that easy and he has to realize it! What's evil is not always evil. Marik and Kaiba are examples of that. From the look in Edric's eyes, it would be hopeless trying to befriend him. I guess I have no choice. I have to protect Tea._ "Edric, I..." Pain suddenly erupted into Yugi's body and he dropped to his hands and knees.

"_Yugi, quick, switch with me, I'll take the pain for you."_

"No, no, I can handle it," Yugi murmured back. Standing again, he said out loud, "I gave you a chance, Edric, I didn't want to do this, but... but now I'm going to have to beat you!"

"You wish! Thirty seconds after my life point counter reach 0, the time bomb will activate then everything here will go up in flames! And if this place goes up, so does your precious Tea."

The lights came back on, the power free from Mokuba's temporary control. "You sure about that?" Yugi asked. Edric saw Joey with Tea on his back and Kaiba just retreating to the hallway along with Mokuba and Mai.

"NO!" Edric snapped.

"You see, Edric, it pays to have friends."

"You tricked me! Somehow, you tricked me!"

"There was no trick involved. They chose to rescue her without telling me. And now that Tea's safe, I can finally put a stop to you once and for all!"

"You can't! If this bomb goes off, you'll be killed!"

"As long as my friends are safe, I don't care what happens to me!"

Yugi's insane! His friends are really more important than his life? This doesn't make any sense! It's illogical! "Your friends are in more trouble than you are, Yugi, once I activate my security system."

"You have a security system? So why didn't you use it before when I first entered this place?"

"Simple, I wanted the chance to duel you. However, your friends are fair game!"

"No, Edric, don't kill them!"

"Too late," Garrick said as he pressed a button on his remote control.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tristan yawned, "Guard duty is boring," he told Bakura.

"Um... Tristan, I don't think you should've said that." Tristan looked around and saw multiple lasers with mini cameras pop out of the wall and aim at them.

"Oh no, they locked onto us!"

"No, they haven't, not yet anyway. Those lasers need line of sight to fire," Bakura said taking a trap card out of his dueling deck. "But they can't fire what they can't see. Enervating Mist!" Immediately the room was covered in purple smoke. The lasers tried to lock on to their target but couldn't. "This trap card won't hold them off for long."

Tristan growled, "Where are they?"

"Tristan, did you eat bean burritos again?" Joey asked as the others came up.

"That's the only thing keeping us from being fried." Tristan patted his motorcycle. "Put Tea on here." Tea, on the verge of complete exhaustion from lack of food, sleep, and the extreme stress, got onto the back of Tristan's motorcycle and Tristan revved it up. He rode out with her with the others following suite.

Bakura was the last one out. He took out one of his effect monsters. "Morphing Jar, come forth!" His Millennium Ring started to glow and a black shadow destroyed most of the lasers.

"Tea, are you all right?" Tristan asked once they were outside.

"She needs to be brought to a hospital," Mai said.

"Yugi... he's back in there, we... we have to go get him." Tea said hoarsely.

"Mai, take care of Tea," Tristan said. "Joey, Bakura, let's go."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How... how can all my great plans just blow up like that...? I thought my plan was foolproof."

"You're the fool, Masters," Yugi said sounding a bit like Yami for a minute. "You thought you were just dealing with me. But when you kidnapped Tea, you didn't just provoke me into action, but all of Tea's friends! Our friendship has proven stronger than your technology! And now that my friends are safe, I'm ready to make sure you don't pull anything like this ever again!"

"No!"

"Yes! I play the spell card Brave Attack! This allows all my monsters to attack your Machine God."

"But none of your monsters have enough attack power to counter Machina. Thanks to the Morale Boost, it's now 1000 points stronger."

(M,tMG: 13200)

"Yes, but I'll play my final card: Soul Release! Part of Machina's attack power comes from how many monster cards the controller has in his graveyard, so I'm going to remove that advantage. The monsters I choose to remove from the graveyard are... Robolady, Cyber Commander, Mechanicalchaser, D.D. Scout Plane, and Cyber Raider! That means you lose 2500 attack points!"

(M,tMG: 13200---10700)

"Now, all monsters, attack Machina now!" The Dark Magician fired a blast of purple energy from his staff. The Battleguards swung their clubs. Harpie Lady slashed with her talons, Vorse Raider threw his weapon, the Man-Eating Treasure Chest fired crystals at it and the Magician of Faith dug her staff into the ground and sent an underground energy blast to Machina.

Machina exploded with such an incredible force, that it blew both Duelists back and made cracks form in the wall.

(Y: 2500)  
(E: 0)

The Duel was over, Yugi had won.

Yugi collapsed to his knees. The pain, the exhaustion, and the relief were all coming at him at the same time.

"_You did it, Yugi, you won the Duel, plus it was you who saved Tea's life. It's all just like you promised."_ Yugi just smiled.

"My machines, my glorious, glorious machines, they all failed me!"

"Hey Edric," Yugi called. "If you want to think machines are better than people, then go right ahead, that's your choice. But it's like what I was trying to say earlier, I don't care about glory, fame, or titles; I only care about saving my friends. That's my belief, and nobody can make me change that."

"No, no, no! Machines are perfection, they are invincible, there's no way human emotions can triumph over the omniscient machine!" It sounded to Yugi that Edric was trying to convince himself that more than he was trying to convince Yugi.

"Edric, it's over."

"Yes, it's over," Edric agreed as he removed his Duel Disk. "Over for you!" He showed his Duel Disk's life point counter which was counting backwards from 19.

"Oh no, he's actually going to do it! Edric, let's get out of here!"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere, Yugi Moto. I intend to blow you up along with this mansion."

"You're crazy! You'll be blown up too."

"Oh, will I?" The floor around Edric began descending. "Like I said, if I can't win, then nobody wins! Farewell, Yugi Moto!" A hatch closed up after him.

"NO!" Yugi cried lunging for the escape hatch but failing it to reach him in time. He turned and staggered to the exit but that slid shut and no matter how hard Yugi try; he couldn't push or slide it open. He collapsed to his knees and looked up and smiled with sad eyes. "Oh well, at least Tea's safe. As long as she is safe, I can give up on life with peace of mind."

"_Never give up on life, Yugi, it's one of the best experiences you'll ever have_."

Yugi's eyes closed so he was unaware that a familiar black shroud was forming around him. "You're right, Yami, you're right."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The house exploded, mostly upward, but the blast still blew everyone back towards the street. When the dust cleared, rubble, foliage, and debris were everywhere.


	13. A Tale of Two Dimensions

If you think this is the end, you are mistaken. It's not over yet, there's still one more battle to take place and boy, is it a doozy. Be sure to stay after the end of the story and there'll be a special surprise and a surprise announcement (well, I guess it isn't that much of a surprise since I probably already announced it). Anyway, enjoy the last three chapters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joey burst up from a pile of dust and wood chips. His shirt was torn in several places and his face was ashen. He looked around, "Hey is everybody all right?"

"Define all right," Tristan said up righting his motorcycle.

Kaiba was looking around frantically for Mokuba. "Mokuba! Mokuba, where are you? Mokuba, answer me!"

"He's okay, Kaiba," Mai called pushing a surviving plank of masonite from on top of her. She stood up revealing that she sheltered Mokuba from a majority of the blast. Their clothes were also torn, though fortunately for Mai, her clothes weren't torn in any place that she didn't want others to see.

"Seto!"

"Mokuba!" The Kaibas embraced one another. Kaiba looked at Mai, or rather, at Mai's feet. "Thank you," he said like he didn't really want to say it. Mai just nodded.

"Look at this place," Bakura said. "Masters really didn't spare any expense. Tea!" Bakura ran over to Tea who had ended up leaning against a tree. "Tea, here, let me help... your shoulder!"

Tea looked at her right shoulder. The explosion had ripped the shoulder of her shirt and a small red mark could be seen, about the length of a pinky finger and as wide as a piece of paper. "Oh, it's a... old wound." Tea gasped as she saw the carnage around her. "Oh no, Yugi!" Tea hobbled to her feet and ran towards where the mansion once stood. Tristan and Bakura each grabbed an arm. "Yugi, Yugi, say something! Yugi, where are you?"

"Tea, forget it," Tristan said. "Nothing could've survived that! It's useless!"

"No... no, it can't be..." Tea dropped to her knees.

"Oh man... oh man... oh man," Joey kept saying.

Mai patted his back. "You okay?"

"I... I don't know... oh man."

Even Kaiba couldn't believe it. "This is insane. I admit Yugi Moto isn't my favorite person, but..." his head lowered either in mourning or shame. "I wouldn't want to wish this sort of fate on anybody... not even him."

An aristocratic laugh caught their ears. They turned to see Edric leaning against a tree clapping. "Incredible, that explosion was simply incredible. Once again, my brilliance and technological skills have brought me victory!"

"Why that dirty stinking son of..." Tristan ran up to him and gripped him by the collar of his jacket and held him against a tree. "You'll pay for what you did."

"Go ahead, pound me into the dirt if you wish, you know that doing so won't be able to bring him back."

"Maybe not, but it would make me feel a whole lot better," Tristan said as he wound up to deliver a head-pounding punch but Joey stopped him.

"Forget it, man; this little rat ain't worth the energy." Tristan dropped Edric on the ground.

"Just as I thought," Edric said as Tristan led Joey away. "You're all weak, pathetic, and useless. I knew you would be listening in to our duel and I allowed it. I even allowed you to rescue poor Tea from my dungeon. It didn't matter, for in the end, I accomplished my overall goal: to put an end to the most self-centered Duelist of all, Yugi Moto!"

Enraged, Kaiba stepped forward. "I challenge you to a duel and if I win, you turn yourself into the police for murder and kidnapping!" Kaiba aimed his Duel Disk at Edric like a weapon.

"Oh please, Seto Kaiba, you saw how I backed Yugi up into a corner, do you really think you... of all people, have a chance to defeat me especially when I have Machina, the Machine God in my deck?" Mai quickly went to her car (which had somehow survived the blast) and grabbed her Dark Duel Disk. She threw it to Bakura while she donned her Battle City one.

"Then if you beat him, you can duel me next," Joey said putting on his Duel Disk.

"And then me," Mai said stepping forward.

"And then me," Bakura threw in ready to use his ring to boot Edric on a one-way trip to the Shadow Realm.

"Wait," Tea said stepping forward. She went up and looked Edric directly in the eye. She turned to Kaiba. "Kaiba, lend me your Duel Disk."

"Why should I?"

"Because I am going to duel him. I'll never forgive him for what he did to me or to Yugi. I'll duel this little toad."

"Tea, wait," Joey said. "Maybe Kaiba or I should duel, we have a better chance."

"Wheeler's right," Kaiba said trying to resist the urge to role his eyes at saying that. "You wouldn't stand a chance going up against Machina, the Machine God."

"Don't argue with me," Tea snapped making the normally stoic Kaiba shift his weight to his back foot. "I'll duel him and that's that."

"None of you can stop Machina. Even you, Seto Kaiba, with your precious Blue-Eyes White Dragons," Edric mocked Kaiba's favorite card making Kaiba even more infuriated. "Even all three of them wouldn't have the attack power to take on Machina, the Machine God."

_Perhaps he's right_, Kaiba thought. _But maybe... if I combine them and increase their power with..._

"Let me just show you how hopeless your cause is." Edric pressed a button on his remote control and the whole ground started to shake. "Long ago, this place used to sit on an old army base complete with a missile silo. When I inherited this place, I converted it to my new pet project. For years, I have been developing this and now it's finished. I think I'll show it all to you." The foundation of where the house once stood parted and a platform rose what could only be described as a fifty-foot version of Machina, the Machine God, complete with laser-emitting spires on its back.

Kaiba noticed something odd about it: a small 'KC' logo on the side. "So you're the one who's been stealing Kaiba-Corp. technology."

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock, did you figure that out all by yourself?" Edric asked sarcastically. "It was so easy, hacking into your mainframe and changing the place of delivery to one of my warehouses instead of one of yours. And once people see something with the Kaiba-Corp. logo had been responsible for the death of the famous Yugi Moto, well... let's just say I'll be the overall winner."

_What do we do_? Tea asked herself as she looked at the giant machine. _Yugi, if there was any time when we really needed you, now's the time_.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"_Yugi? Yugi! YUGI!"_

Yugi moaned, "Is it morning time already?" He was dazed.

Yami stood over him and smiled in relief. "_Good, you're not dead_."

"Yami, where are we?" Yugi asked.

"_Someplace I wished we would never end up in again. Take a look_." Yugi got up and looked around but all he could see was dark smoke. But even though that was all he could see, he knew where he was.

"The Shadow Realm."

_"Yes, apparently we were somehow transported here when the mansion exploded."_

"But is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Despite what you may think, it's a good thing, Yugi," an unfamiliar voice said. Two shadows were walking towards him through the shadows. Yugi and Yami got ready for a confrontation.

But it was unnecessary, for the two who appeared were the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl.

"Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl?"

"That's correct," Dark Magician Girl said. "You are here because we willed it."

"You mean... you brought me here to the Shadow Realm? Why?"

"To save your life, of course."

"I know your previous experiences in the Shadow Realm were not pleasant ones, Yugi," the Dark Magician said. "But like she said, we wanted to save your life. The Shadow Realm is the only place where you would be safe from the explosion."

Yugi gasped as he matched their voices to the voices who called out to him during his duel with Kaiba. It was them who told him that his cards believed in him. Yugi trusted them then and in turn, he won the duel. Did Yugi trust them now? Of course he would trust his two favorite cards. Besides, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

"I don't know what to say, guys, I'm really grateful, but... but what about my friends? What about Tea and the others? Are they all right?"

Dark Magician Girl looked at Dark Magician. The Dark Magician nodded and held out his staff. A scene showed of the others confronting Edric and Edric activating a large version of Machina, the Machine God. "Oh no, they're in trouble! And there's nothing I can do!"

"But there is something we can do," Dark Magician Girl added. "We can protect them."

"Huh, just the two of you?"

"Not just us..." Multiple flashes of light came from the deck of Duel Monster cards that Yugi had in his pocket and took the forms of all of his monsters, every monster that he used in his duels against Edric. "Yugi, you treated us with respect and kindness, the same way you treat your friends. You mourned for me even when I was under Edric's control when anyone else would've given up. It would be an honor to defend your friends."

"All right, but... how do we do it?"

"If we were to appear in your world, we would just be illusions, mirages, figments of the imagination," Dark Magician Girl said.

"_Holograms_," Yami translated. Yugi nodded showing he understood.

"But if a Shadow Game were to start up over the monster, we would be able to unleash our powers on it and destroy it," Dark Magician said.

"A Shadow Game? But... how do I know I won't end up like Pegasus, or worse... Bakura's Millennium Ring Spirit?"

Dark Magician Girl bent down until she was eye-level with Yugi. She took his hand and held it over her heart. "It's this that keeps you from succumbing to the shadows." She then moved it over Yugi's own heart. "You listened to and believed in your heart and that is what keeps you from becoming like Pegasus or the Millennium Ring Spirit. And it will be your heart and your soul that will save your friends and defeat this evil once and for all. Your duel today proved that the two most powerful forces alive are the human heart and the human soul." Yugi stared into the Dark Magician Girl's deep blue eyes. In her eyes, he saw that she believed everything she was telling him... and so did he. But deep down, he was still wondering why the monsters all volunteered to help him. Was it because of his ties to the Pharaoh? Or were they just doing it out of pity or was it something else?

"Yugi." It was the Tea look-a-like that appeared when Machina attacked him. She walked up to Yugi and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yugi, all these monsters have chosen to come to your aid not because of your link to the Pharaoh, but because of the nobility of your own spirit and the purity of your own heart. You and the Pharaoh are one and the same, and no matter what may happen in the future, the two of you will always be connected."

Yugi and Yami briefly switched. "I understand, but... I also have a question. What you showed me... what you showed us, did it really happen? Did I unite the bearers of the Millennium Items against a great evil?"

She nodded. "You did, I should know. I was there. For in saving the world, you also saved my soul from a terrible fate. And for that, my Pharaoh, I will always be grateful."

"Before, you said 'my beloved.' Does that mean..."

The woman placed a finger over Yami's mouth. "That question is not ready to be answered just yet. But rest assured... when the time does come, we will meet again." She kissed Yami briefly on the lips. "Until then, my Pharaoh... my beloved." and she disappeared.

Yugi took back control of his body and turned to his two favorite monsters. "All right, I'm ready!"

"You do realize that performing a task as big as this could be very taxing on you, Yugi."

"If it saves my friends, I don't care if it kills me!" Yugi declared.

The Dark Magician nodded. "Then summon the power of the Millennium Puzzle. Join with the spirit of the Pharaoh and protect your friends as you had done so in the past."

Yugi nodded. The Millennium Puzzle shined brighter than ever as Yugi released its full power into the sky. A speck of light appeared above them. The speck of light got bigger and bigger until it was big enough to fit a person through, or rather several people. The monsters assembled around Yugi turned into orbs of light and disappeared into the hole in the sky. Finally, Yugi himself did likewise.

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"Look out!" Mai tackled Joey and Mokuba sending them out of harm's way. The harm, in this case, was Machina's giant fist.

"How do we stop something that enormous?" Joey asked.

"You don't," Edric said. "You can only watch as it puts an end to your miserable lives."

"Why are you doing this?" Mai asked.

"Simple, you chose to side with Yugi Moto and his pathetic emotions."

"We're not going to let you get away with this!" Mokuba charged towards Edric but only ended up getting kicked to the ground.

"I think I'll start my destruction with you, little Kaiba. Can't have any of you riff-raff trying to upstage me in the future." Machina picked up Mokuba and went forward.

"Mokuba!" With lightning-quick speed, Kaiba kicked the remote out of Edric's hands. "That's what you get for messing with my family and my company."

"It won't do you any good, Seto Kaiba. In the event that the remote is taken from me or destroyed, Machina is asked to carry out the last orders given to it, and I ordered it to kill everybody except me."

"This isn't good," Mai said avoiding lasers that were coming from one of Machina's spires. "That thing could put the whole city in danger!"

"_Bakura, let me take control_," the ring protested. "_I have the power to finish this thing off."_

"No, how do I know you won't try to destroy Joey and the others?"

"_Because right now we have more pressing concerns like trying to stay alive; just say the word."_

"Fine, switch." Yami-Bakura emerged and took out his deck.

"Time to cause some damage," the spirit said. "Dark Necrofear, come forth!" A bald, blue-skinned woman appeared and attacked Machina. But Machina pinned it with one of its large arms. Machina zapped Dark Necrofear with its spire lasers. It didn't let up until Dark Necrofear was destroyed. The Millennium Ring Spirit growled and took out another monster card. "Patrician of Darkness, attack with Life-Draining Kiss!" The blue-skinned vampire-like monster didn't even get a chance before a shaft of energy emitted from Machina's eye and blew it up. "Blast, I was wrong; I'm not strong enough to do any serious damage like this." Regular Bakura took back his own body. "Then let me give it a shot. Man-Eater Bug!" A bug leaped out of the card and struck Machina but it had no affect on it. "Morphing Jar!" Bakura unleased several destroy all cards but they all had no effect. "So what do we do now?"

"_I don't know."_

_We're doomed_, Tea thought. _Yugi could barely stand up to it with his cards and our cards aiding him, how can we do the same without anything to protect ourselves_? Kaiba and Tristan dove behind Machina in an attempt to avoid its hand but ended up being the target of its multi-directional spire lasers. _I know we can't give up. Yugi would never give up, even when things seemed their darkest_. Bakura used a Dark Mirror Force trap card to protect himself and Mai from an attack. _And we can't either_. Edric was chuckling, clearly enjoying the carnage before him. _But I don't know what to do. We need a miracle_.

Tea got her miracle.

From the rubble of the house, a shaft of dark energy shot into the air catching everyone's attention. Everything began to get covered in darkness.


	14. Monster Mash

The darkness that emerged from the rubble of Edric's mansion spread out through the sky, blocking the sun and began taking shape.

"Uh... Tristan, doesn't this look eerily familiar?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, kind of reminds me of the Battle City finals when Yugi and Marik duked it out."

"That may be true in more ways than one," Bakura said, his Millennium Ring shaking wildly. "Shadow Magic is being released."

"What?" Joey and Tristan asked at the same time.

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Pegasus felt a slight tingle in the back of the neck. Even years after he lost his Millennium Eye in a duel against Bakura, he still had a sixth sense when it comes to the Millennium Items. And now, he felt it. Boy, did he feel it. It felt like it was right near by. He looked out into the distance and saw a large black pyramid forming in the distance.

"No doubt about it," he muttered. "A Shadow Duel is about to start." He continued to stare out at it. "I wonder... could it be..."

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"Sister, did you feel that?" Marik Ishtar asked Ishizu. They turned and looked at the distance.

"I did, the ultimate Shadow Battle is almost to commence."

"I... I have a feeling that the Conundrum is involved. But is it good or bad?"

Ishizu smiled. "It's good, Marik, very good."

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The man known only as Shadi stood on the rooftop of Kaiba Corporation. He held the Millennium Scale out in front of him. It tilted slightly to the left.

"The Pharaoh," he simply said.

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"What's going on?" Kaiba asked as the black energy began forming a pyramid-shape object around the ruins of the house and the forest surrounding the Duelists. It was huge, probably about the size of the real pyramids but much roomier.

Joey looked down at Bakura's Millennium Ring. "This better not be one of your tricks."

_"I couldn't form a Shadow Dome this big, you ape. But I think I know what could."_

"Well, 'Lord of the Ring,' don't hold us in suspense," Tristan said.

"_Thousands of years ago, a series of powerful artifacts were created. All these artifacts were strong, but only one could hold enough power to display what you're seeing here. _A speck of light appeared near the tip of the pyramid._ "It is the Conundrum, the blessing, and the curse of all Egyptian artifacts, the house of the Pharaoh himself, and the most powerful of all the Millennium Items._" It was then that the object in question revealed itself from the speck of light.

"The Millennium Puzzle!" Bakura realized looking up at it.

Tea gasped and looked up.

The Millennium Puzzle began spouting out beams of light. The Dark Magician formed along with the Knights, the Battleguards, Harpie Lady, Gaia, Neo, the Magic Swordsman, Dark Blade, and Curse of Dragon in front of Machina.

"It's the Dark Magician!" Tristan realized.

The Dark Magician Girl formed behind Machina along with Kuriboh, the Magnet Warriors, Magician of Faith, Vorse Raider, Man-Eating Treasure Chest, Big Shield Gardna, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, and the Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress.

"Dark Magician Girl's here too," Mai pointed out.

The Dark Magician raised his staff and all the monsters charged. Immediately, several transformations took place. Gaia leaped off his horse and landed on the Curse of Dragon to become Gaia, the Dragon Champion. The Magnet Warriors broke apart and re-combined to form Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior. Machina had to defend itself as the monsters made an all-out assault against it. One by one, the monsters attacked with weapons, magic, even their own bodies. Machina fired all of its spire lasers. The Dark Magician set up a shield to block it. Machina immediately set out to attack the Dark Magician. It swung its arm down at the Dark Magician who blocked it with its staff.

Joey could've sworn that he heard the Dark Magician grunt.

The Dark Magician was saved by his female equivalent, tackling him to throw them both out of the arm's reach. Tea realized that it was similar to the way she saved Yugi from the car years ago.

Harpie Lady led the flying monsters in a dive-bomb assault, hitting it with every kind of attack imaginable. When Machina tried retaliating with its spire lasers, the monsters spread out so that they wouldn't be taken down at once.

Valkyrion and Dark Magician Girl were attacking Machina's arm trying to free Mokuba. Machina was trying to beat them with lasers that appeared from its arm and punching them with its free arm.

Edric could hardly believe the site before him. _Duel Monsters coming alive, this defies all laws of physics. I have to give Machina more power so it can take these incompetent morons out_. Edric dove for his control but before he could program anything, a little furball landed on it: Kuriboh.

"Get off, you ball of fuzz, I command you," Edric ordered. Kuriboh cooed and its eyes made it look like it was smiling. Then it scowled at Edric and exploded destroying Edric's remote and blowing Edric back. Ironically, Kuriboh survived making a laughing-like sound.

Vorse Raider and Dark Blade were able to lend a hand by stabbing Machina's arm with their weapons. With its circuitry broken, the hand opened up allowing Harpie Lady to grab Mokuba and fly him over to the others. Valkyrion destroyed the arm laser as Dark Magician Girl ran up the arm to the head and fired a tremendous blast of energy point-blank at its eye, destroying its head. As Machina twisted uncontrollably, one of its spire lasers made its way towards Tea and the others. Big Shield Gardna and Obnoxious Celtic Guardian quickly jumped into the line of fire and were able to defend them from it.

Gaia destroyed one of its spires with its double lances and dragon fire. The Knights destroyed another. Harpie Lady and the Battleguards ganged up on a third. Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl both destroyed the center one and the last was taken care of by the Magician of Faith and Neo the Magic Swordsman.

"This rocks," Joey said. "Our cards protected Yugi's life points, now it's like his cards are protecting our lives!"

Harpie Lady, Vorse Raider, the Battleguards and Man-Eating Treasure Chest started attacking the mid-section. Together, they pushed Machina back. By this time, Machina was just one big hulking wreck.

Suddenly the monsters all gathered behind Dark Magician. Yugi's chief monsters stepped forward. The Winged Dragon landed in front of the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician held out his staff so that the shell-shaped end was resting on the Winged Dragon's head. Dark Magician Girl and Valkyrion took up position on either side of the Dark Magician's staff and each laid a hand on it. Gaia the Dragon Champion hovered above and behind the Dark Magician. Energy started to gather from all the monsters to the Dark Magician's staff. At the same time, the Winged Dragon's mouth opened and Gaia's lances started to glow. Machina slowly began to rise into the air. The shadow of a card appeared behind Yugi's monsters, an image that Tea recognized as the card Yugi won after he defeated Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom: The Ties of Friendship.

A humungous energy bolt lanced out from the monsters that gathered around the Dark Magician. Machina's body, which was already heavily damaged, disintegrated.

"My machine... my machine is destroyed... but... none of this makes sense, how could holograms destroy a real version of Machina... unless they weren't really holograms... but how could they be real... it doesn't make any sense... nothing makes sense..." Edric noticed the Dark Magician glaring at him. He panicked and fled.

The monsters turned back into beams of light and the Millennium Puzzle began sucking them all up. A shaft of energy formed all the way to the ground and slowly, the Millennium Puzzle moved down it. When the bulge of light that represented the Millennium Puzzle reached the ground, it formed into Yugi, unconscious. The Pyramid arena disappeared.

"Yugi!" Tea and the others ran up to him. But Tea was afraid to approach his still form. "Kaiba... is... is he...?"

Kaiba felt his pulse then nodded to Tea. "He's alive," he confirmed.

Tea's eyes swelled with tears, tears of joy and happiness. "Thank heavens."

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Edric saw this sight from a hiding place. _So, Yugi Moto survived. No matter, this is but a small setback. I'll start over and soon, I will take Yugi Moto's life for good and take over Kaiba-Corp. Those fools haven't heard the last of Edric Masters_! Edric turned and ran off.

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"So what do we do now?" Tristan asked.

"I guess somebody should bring him home," Bakura replied.

"I'll do it," Joey volunteered.

"No, wait," Tea said. "Let me do it. I don't think there's anything I can do to repay Yugi for what he did, but at least I can do this. And besides..." she stared lovingly at him. "He's my best friend and I care about him."

Joey nodded. "All right." All the cards were returned to their original owners (Kaiba seemed glad that his Vorse Raider, despite all it's been through, wasn't damaged) and everyone went home except for Tea who picked Yugi up in her arms and took him back to his house.


	15. Joined Spirits

You know, I'm not really sure if I should post the final chapter. I mean it's just too sappy for words and you all deserve better. So I figure I might as well end it now...

All right, you guys twisted my arm, I'll post the final chapter. ;-) Yeah right, like I was really going to leave you guys hanging. Despite evidence to the contrary, I'm not that evil. Oh yeah, and be sure to stick around for a special announcement made by yours truly.

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Tea and Yugi's Grandfather had been keeping constant vigil over Yugi for the past five days since Tea . Yugi's other friends stopped by to see how he was. Joey's sister, Serenity, asked how Yugi was doing when she dropped by with some clothes for Tea. Tea had asked Joey to go over to her house to pick them up and Joey said that he decided that Serenity would make a better candidate (Tea had a feeling that it was Mai who made a change seeing as how a girl would be a better choice to bring over girl clothes). Duke Devlin and Mako Tsunami dropped by on the third day. When Tea told them everything that happened, they regretted not being there for Yugi. It was a surprise when Rex Raptor actually asked Tristan and Bakura what happened to Yugi and actually seemed empathetic for Yugi. Tea had a feeling that as much as Rex disliked Yugi, even he was glad Yugi wasn't killed. Even Kaiba stopped by, claiming that it was Mokuba who wanted to see how Yugi was and he was just being dragged along for the ride. Nobody questioned him on whether or not it was a bluff.

A slight moan was the first sign they had that he was waking up on the fifth day. Tea and his Grandfather watched as Yugi's eyes fluttered open and he sat up.

"He's awake!" Tea said happily.

"Yugi," his Grandfather addressed.

"What happened to me?" He asked. He looked around and finally saw Tea. The memories came flooding back to him. "Tea!" The two joined in a fierce embrace. "Are you all right?"

"I should be the one asking you that."

Since the two of them were too emotional to say anything more, Solomon decided to say something. "Well, it's been a long week, I think I'll go down and make us some tea. Would you like some?"

"Yes, thank you, Mister Moto."

As Solomon turned to leave, he whispered in Yugi's ear, "She's been here ever since she brought you home." Yugi's cheeks reddened slightly at that. Solomon left.

"Yugi... do you remember anything?" Tea asked.

Yugi nodded. "I remember the timer counting down and Edric escaping through a trap door. And then... somehow, I ended up in the Shadow Realm." Tea gasped. "I know, but I guess it was the only way to save my life. There, I saw the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl and..."

"And what?"

"I... I honestly don't know who she was," Yugi said semi-lying. "She was probably just another humanoid Duel Monster, but... she looked like you."

"Like me?"

Yugi nodded, "Only not as pretty."

"You... you think I'm pretty?"

Yugi realized what he said a fraction too late but he nodded. "Well... yes, yes I do. I... I thought so ever since I first saw you."

"Yugi..." Tea sat down on the bed. "When Edric's mansion exploded, I... I was afraid, afraid that you were gone forever. It felt like someone just shot a cannon at my heart. But... when I saw you emerge from that beam of light, I came to realize how much I enjoyed having you in my life, how important you mean to me."

"I'm... important to you?"

"What I'm trying to say is... is..." Tea closed her eyes tight. "I love you, Yugi. I didn't want to admit it, but I do. I love you, Yugi Moto, with all my heart and soul."

Yugi looked at his Millennium Puzzle which was hanging by his bedpost. "Tea..." Tea opened her eyes and stared at him. "When I first got the Millennium Puzzle, I made a wish on it. I never told you what it was because I was afraid it wouldn't come true, but I think it's safe to tell you now. I wished for someone to be my friend. And the puzzle came through for me big time. Before, I thought I was going to be a loner for the rest of my life. Now, I have lots of friends: Joey, Tristan, Bakura, Mai, and Duke, even the Kaibas, and... you... especially you, Tea. You saved my life plus you were kind and thoughtful, something that I had rarely experienced up until you pushed me out of the way of that moving car. I... I guess what I'm trying to say is..." Yugi wrapped his arms around Tea again. This time, he landed a quick kiss on the corner of her lips. "I love you too, Tea Gardner, with all my heart and soul."

Tea returned the embrace. The eyes of both people in the room were overflowing with tears. "I'm so glad."

"Me too, Tea, me too."

From outside, Solomon decided that the tea could wait and decided to go down and tend the store.

Yami watched the two in spirit form. He looked up at the skylight and at the sun shining down, as if all the gods were giving their blessing on this. At least for now, all is right with the world, he thought as he returned to his soul room inside the Millennium Puzzle.

Yugi and Tea stayed locked in that embrace for a while; finally revealing their feelings, finally glad that the truth was known and finally, and glad that they knew that their hearts and souls would always be together.

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The next day, Yugi and his friends (including Kaiba and Mai) were walking down the street towards the Duel Dome.

"So bud, are you all right?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, for once, you slept longer than Joey," Tristan agreed.

Yugi and Tea shared a knowing smile. "I've never felt better." Yugi turned to Kaiba. "Hey Kaiba, any time you want that rematch, let me know. And I promise that this time, I won't hold back."

Kaiba nodded in that high-and-mighty manner that everyone was used to (and mostly ignored). "I would be insulted if you dueled any other way, Yugi."

"Hey guys, take a look at that," Mai said pointing to a television in an electronic store which was showing a news report. On it, they were treated to the image of Edric Masters being ushered into a police car.

"They're real, I tell you! They're all real!" He was arguing. "Please, believe me! They're real, Duel Monsters are real!" Edric's yelling was frantic, like a man possessed.

The desk anchor came on. "Edric Masters, head of Gamma Technology, was taken into custody today after authorities received evidence that Masters was involved in the thefts of Kaiba-Corp. technology as well as kidnapping and attempted murder. While the details of the evidence are being kept secretive from the media for now, prosecutors believe that Masters might receive a lenient sentence on the insanity plea after claiming to have seen real-life versions of Duel Monsters, a popular card game from Industrial Illusions. Despite his innocence or guilt, Gamma Tech's Board of Directors agreed to transfer control of their company to a neutral party until a new head can be appointed. In addition, Gamma Tech has ceased the take over of Kaiba Corporation, stating that it was interfering with their company business."

Everybody except Kaiba was bewildered. "Okay, how did that happen?" Yugi asked.

Kaiba chuckled. "Edric may have known I was watching your duel with him, but I don't think he knew that I was recording it. Anyone who messes with me must be ready to risk it all."

"I couldn't have thought of a better punishment for him: using technology to bring him to justice," Yugi said.

"Yugi Moto!" Everyone turned to see Weevil Underwood standing there looking mad as hell. From his wrinkled clothes and messed up hair, Yugi and the others concluded that he was still in the recovering stage from his duel against Mai. "I challenge you to a duel! And this time, I'll continue to dog you until you accept my challenge! And neither you nor your hive of friends can stop me"

Yugi turned to his friends. "What do you guys think, should I duel him?"

"Squash this maggot, Yugi," Tristan encouraged.

"If I can beat him, you can beat him," Joey threw in.

"Ditto," Mai agreed.

"After dueling Kaiba and Masters, Weevil should be a piece of cake," Bakura commented.

"I've never seen you back down from a challenge before, Yugi," Kaiba said. "Don't start proving me wrong now."

Yugi looked at Tea. "What do you think?"

Tea kissed him on the cheek and said, "Wipe him out, Yugi!" Kaiba handed Yugi a new Duel Disk (a "get well quickly so we can duel" present). Yugi inserted his deck into the slot. His Millennium Puzzle shined brightly as Yugi and Yami joined souls. Yugi realized how lucky he was to have them all as friends, even Kaiba. And he realized that what he told Edric was true, that he would gladly give up his titles and victories for his friends.

"All right, Weevil, you want a rematch, you got one," Yami-Yugi said. They activated their Duel Disks. "But this time, I won't be showing any mercy! So prepare to lose again because play time is over. It's time to DUEL!" Yami-Yugi drew his first card and the duel began.

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And there you go, I hope you guys enjoyed it. As always, I welcome any comments you guys might have. I put a lot of heart into this (just like I do with most of my other stories) so, I'm glad to see that all my hard work is paying off.

Oh, that's right, I promised you guys a special surprise. Well, I have a couple of surprises for you, one which you probably already know. My next step for this: is to convert it into script format. Now, I'm perfectly aware that frowns on script stories. Well, I guess it's a good thing I have my own web site. I'll post two versions up there. The one you just read and a script version that might make some of the things said and done in the story version make more sense. I'll post the link in my bio.

Now, for the second surprise: the version you have just read... is only the first draft. That's right, people, while you guys were reading the latest chapter, I was making revisions to my earlier chapters. I'll eventually post the revisions, right after a short break (hey, creativity is hard work).

I also have another little surprise for you (I know Christmas isn't for a few months, but hey, I'm a giving type of guy). You know the "story" told to Yami and Yugi about the defeat of the great evil by the bearers of the Millennium Items? Well... I'm in the planning stages of turning that into a story. Maybe I'll even throw in my own version of the discovery of the Millennium Puzzle. At any rate, you'll find out who the mysterious Tea look-a-like is (if you don't have an idea already). If you guys have any suggestions on what I should include, feel free to speak out, either e-mail or post it in a review or anything.

I'm probably torching the whole Yu-Gi-Oh! canon continuity by writing all this. But I'm doing all of this for you, the reading public. So for now, this is Ry... I mean Phantom, signing off.

Oh yeah, one more thing, if you guys pick up the November issue of Writer's Digest, you'll find a small article on fanfiction on page 8. is mentioned. Just thought you guys might want to know.


End file.
